Michael Schouten

Michael specialises in public and private M&A and has acted for a number of listed companies and private multinationals. On the public side, Michael has been involved in friendly as well as hostile takeover bids. He regularly advises clients on takeover regulation and the role and responsibilities of boards. On the private side, Michael has particular expertise in shareholder agreements and has been involved in various private equity deals and controlled auctions.

Michael regularly advises clients on governance issues and recent developments in corporate law as well as securities law and disclosure obligations.

Before joining De Brauw’s M&A team, Michael gained expertise in De Brauw’s corporate litigation practice group.

Michael’s publishes regularly on shareholder activism and corporate law, and he lectures on corporate governance.

Michael’s recent work includes advising:

• ABN AMRO on the spin-out of its private equity business (currently named Capital A), and the secondary sale of related portfolio interests;
• Unilever on its EUR 450m public offer for its preference shares;
• ASML on the USD 3bn acquisition of Hermes Microvision through a public offer, and on its investment in Carl Zeiss SMT;
• ING on the review of its corporate governance and conversion of depository receipts into shares;
• Rabobank on the divestment of its investment management business, and the sale by managed funds of CAIW to EQT;
• Royal Philips on the divestment of its LED components business, and the IPO of its Lighting business;
• Schiphol Airport on the JV to operate the airside retail business, and its consortium bid for Rio Airport;
• VPE on its mandatory public offer for Batenburg Beheer, and the subsequent delisting; and
• Avedon Capital Partners on the acquisition of various portfolio companies.