Michael specialises in public and private M&amp;A, acting for listed and private companies acquiring new business domestically and abroad, or divesting business. He also advises private equity clients on sellside and buyside processes, including minority investments.
Michael regularly advises listed clients on public takeovers and the role and responsibilities of boards. He is a trusted adviser on corporate governance and disclosure matters.
Michael has particular expertise in the regulated financial and energy sectors. He has advised leading infrastructure investors, state-owned enterprises as well as the Dutch state on large-scale infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
Michael’s recent work includes advising:
<ul>
 <li>Adyen on its EUR 750m acquisition of Talon.One; 
 </li><li>TenneT on its sale of a EUR 3.3bn minority stake in TenneT Germany to KfW/the German State; 
</li>
 <li>TenneT on securing EUR 9.5 billion of equity funding for grid expansion from APG, GIC and NBIM;</li>
 <li>Aalberts on its public takeover of Singapore-listed Grand Venture Technology;</li>
 <li>Paulig on the acquisition of Unilever's Conimex brand;</li>
 <li>Schiphol on its airside retail joint venture with Lagardere;</li>
 <li>Prodrive Technologies on the minority investment by HAL Investments;</li>
 <li>Bridgepoint on its minority investment in ACT, valuing ACT at over EUR 1 billion;</li>
 <li>AkzoNobel on its competing EUR 1.4 billion public offer for Tikkurilla;</li>
 <li>Boels on its EUR 614 million public offer for Cramo;</li>
 <li>Silverfleet Capital on the acquisition of Coredux, and the subsequent sale to Arcline;</li>
 <li>ABN AMRO on the spin-out of its private equity business (Capital A), the secondary sale of related portfolio interests, and the divestment of its shipping investment business, Maas Capital;</li>
 <li>ASML on the USD 3 billion acquisition of Hermes Microvision through a public offer, and on its investment in Carl Zeiss SMT;</li>
 <li>Hapag Lloyd on the acquisition of NileDutch;</li>
 <li>Unilever on its EUR 450 million public offer for its preference shares;</li>
 <li>Rabobank on the divestment of its investment management business, and the sale of CAIW to EQT;</li>
 <li>VP Capital on its take private of Batenburg Beheer; and</li>
 <li>Avedon Capital Partners on the acquisition of various portfolio companies.</li>
</ul>

Schouten

Michael Schouten

Partner

Yi is a partner at De Brauw’s Corporate M&amp;A practice. He is experienced in general corporate and M&amp;A matters, specialising in private M&amp;As, joint ventures, and carve-out transactions. Prior to joining De Brauw, Yi practised law at both US and Chinese law firms in China. 
Drawing on his diverse practice, Yi is highly valued for his experience in complex M&amp;As and cross-border transactions. His Chinese background adds legal and cultural depth to transactions involving Chinese companies. In addition to his legal expertise, clients also prize Yi's financial skills, which help bridge the gaps across different M&amp;A workstreams. 
Yi received his LLM degrees from New York University and National University of Singapore. Yi is admitted to practice in California (US) and holds the Chinese lawyer qualification.
Yi's recent work includes representing and advising: 
<ul><li>Philips on the sale of its domestic appliance business to Hillhouse Capital</li><li>Paine Schwartz Partners on its strategic investment in Hendrix Genetics</li><li>Parcom Capital on the acquisition of Euramax from OmniMax and the acquisition of Simadan group</li><li>NXP Semiconductors on the divestment of Nexperia to JAC Capital and Wise Road Capita</li><li>G Square on the sale of the Duomed Group to Palex Medical</li><li>Ardian on the acquisition of Attero from 3i and DWS</li><li>Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile Netherlands on the sale of the Dutch tower business to Cellnex</li><li>Paulig in its acquisition of Conimex from Unilever</li><li>BC partners on the sale of Pharmathen</li><li>Waterland on the sale of Attero to 3i infrastructure and DWS</li><li>T-Mobile Netherlands on the acquisition of Simpel</li></ul>

Yi duan

Yi Duan

Lisa advises corporates, founders and private equity clients on various cross-border transactions.

Lisa chee

Lisa Chee

Senior Associate

Emma Groenveld

Associate

Stephanie is a member of De Brauw's IP/Tech team. She represents clients in technology-driven matters, ranging from patent infringement/invalidity actions and other IP-related conflicts, to transactional work. She is a registered representative for the Unified Patent Court.
Stephanie has many years of international experience and special expertise in the life sciences sector, with a focus on the pharmaceutical industry and pharmaceutical patents. She began her life sciences career as an academic and obtained her PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry – titled "Application of free energy calculations for drug design" – in 2012, and subsequently qualified as a lawyer. 
Stephanie has worked in the international IP practice ever since, and has assisted many international clients with Dutch, pan-European and US-related matters and strategies. Before joining De Brauw, Stephanie worked for other large law firms in Amsterdam, and also as a USPTO patent agent in New York for several years. 
IAM PATENT 1000 (2025) has named her a Recommended Next Generation individual. Stephanie has also been recognised as Notable Practitioner 2025 by Managing IP's IP Stars.

Stephanie de Beer

Henk specialises in tax and corporate law and, in particular, mergers and acquisitions and private equity structuring. Since joining De Brauw, Henk has advised numerous multinationals and private equity clients on public and private transactions, leveraged buy-outs, complex cross-border transactions, corporate restructurings, financings and refinancings, and the structuring of management incentive plans.
Legal 500 has recognised Henk as a "leading individual", with Chambers stating that Henk is "up and coming". In 2020, 2021 and 2023, Henk was nominated by MenA.nl (the Dutch M&amp;A awards) as Best M&amp;A Tax Adviser, and he won this award in 2024. 
Henk’s recent work includes advising
<ul><li>Bain Capital on the acquisition of Bugaboo from the founders and the sale of a majority interest to Mubadala capital</li>
 <li>Ardian on the acquisition of Attero from 3i and DWS</li>
 <li>Takeaway.com on numerous M&amp;A transactions including its acquisition of the German business of Delivery Hero and the combinations with both Just Eat and Grubhub</li>
 <li>AkzoNobel on numerous M&amp;A transactions including the separation and sale of its Specialty Chemicals to The Carlyle Group and GIC for EUR 10.1 billion</li>
 <li>Royal Philips on numerous M&amp;A transactions including the EUR 862 million IPO of Philips Lighting (Signify) and the sale of Philips’ 80.1% interest in Lumileds to Apollo</li>
 <li>T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom on the EUR 5.1 billion sale of T-Mobile Netherlands to Apax and Warburg Pincus, the combination of T-Mobile and Tele2, the divestment of T-Infra and the acquisitions of Vodafone’s fixed line consumer business and Simpel.nl</li><li>Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile Netherlands on the sale of the Dutch tower business to Cellnex</li>
 <li>Advent and Unit4 on the sale of the Unit4 Dutch software business to Exact Group and various other transactions, including the sale of Unit4 to TA Associates and Partners Group</li>
 <li>Parcom on most of its buy-side and sell-side transactions in the past seven years including the acquisition of Hunkemöller, Wajer Yachts , Zorg van de Zaak, Group of Butchers, Simpel.nl, Yource, MGG Group, ConDoor Group, Koninklijke Euroma, NedacSorboMascot, Outdoor Life Group, and other portfolio companies, and the sale of Altrex, Jan Snel, ConDoor Group, GustoMSC, GoodHabitz, Climate for Life and various other transactions</li>
 <li>Topicus.com on its combination with Total Specific Solutions and subsequent listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange</li>
 <li>Impax Asset Management on the acquisition, financing, development and sale of Zonnepark Vlagtwedde, the largest Dutch solar park (110MW)</li>
 <li>The founder of De Jong Packaging on the sale to Stora Enso</li>
 <li>Fugro on its refinancing transactions and multiple buyside and sell-side acquisitions and divestments</li>
 <li>The Kloosterboer family on the sale of Kloosterboer Group to Lineage (Bay Grove)</li>
 <li>Triton on the acquisition of Royal Reesink from Rivean Capital and a majority stake in Bergman Clinics</li></ul>

Henk vanravenhorst

Henk van Ravenhorst

Helen has over 20 years' experience in all aspects of competition law, including merger control, cartels, dominance and vertical restraints. She regularly advises international companies on their European and international M&amp;A and competition law matters, including AkzoNobel, Booking.com, Just Eat Takeaway, Celanese, DSM-Firmenich, TomTom and SHV. 
Clients value her private practice and previous in-house expertise, which allows her to understand business drivers and offer clear and practical advice, even in the most complex of matters. 
Helen holds a number of board positions including in relation to the European Competition Law Forum, the Mededingingsrecht Congres and W@ ("Women AT") in the Netherlands. The latter organises events in the competition law arena, promoting and mentoring female competition law specialists. 
Helen acted for a number of years as a non-governmental adviser to the Dutch competition authority (ACM) supporting the development of competition policy within the International Competition Network. She also lectures on competition law for various institutions. She is dual-qualified as both a solicitor (England &amp; Wales) and Dutch advocaat. Helen is also included in Global Competition Review's prestigious "Women in Antitrust" list. 
Helen's recent work includes advising:
<ul><li>Just Eat Takeaway on the merger control process relating to the public offer by Prosus, as well as all other major M&amp;A matters for the company, including its acquisitions of Delivery Hero in Germany, Just Eat in the UK and Grubhub in the US</li><li>AkzoNobel on multiple merger control and other regulatory filings in relation to its merger with Axalta to create a EUR 21 billion paints and coatings player</li><li>Booking.com in litigation in the Amsterdam District Court and before the European Court of Justice relating to price parity clauses, as well as in litigation defending its Genius programme</li><li>TomTom on its successful complaint against Google regarding tying and bundling practices in map and navigation services</li><li>Coca Cola in relation to a sustainability-related packaging reduction initiative with competitors</li><li>Akzo Nobel on its attempted acquisition of paint competitor Kansai in Africa requiring multiple merger control filings, including a South African Phase-2 merger control litigation process</li><li>various digital and tech clients in relation to digital regulation, including the Digital Markets Act, parity clauses, online advertising, abuse of dominance, algorithms and consumer law investigations</li></ul>

Helen gornall

Helen Gornall

Isabel works on a broad range of matters in our regulatory enforcement and competition practices. She has a focus on competition law and advises clients in antitrust investigations, multi-jurisdictional merger filings and high-profile follow-on litigation matters

Isabel westra

Isabel Westra

Fenna Faaij

Lisa quant

Lisa Quant

Sophia specialises in international and Dutch tax law, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, private equity as well as tax controversies. She regularly advises public and private businesses on a wide range of tax issues, including strategic and financial acquisitions, divestments and reorganisations. She also assists De Brauw clients on the tax aspects of executive compensation.
Sophia is a member of the Netherlands Bar Association as well as the Dutch Association of Tax Advisers. She is currently seconded to the New York office of Cravath, Swaine &amp; Moore LLP until December 2026.

Sophia van Straalen 2025

Sophia van Straalen

De Brauw assisted Paulig in its acquisition of Conimex from Unilever.

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Paulig acquires leading Dutch brand Conimex from Unilever

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De Brauw assisted Paulig in its acquisition of Conimex from Unilever.

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Paulig acquires leading Dutch brand Conimex from Unilever

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