Harold Vanden Berghe

Harold Vanden Berghe

Associate
Baker & McKenzie CVBA/SCRL

Biography

Harold Vanden Berghe is a senior associate in the Corporate Practice Group in the Brussels office.

He joined Baker McKenzie in 2020. He previously worked for five years in an international law firm.

Practice Focus

Harold advises on cross-border and domestic M&A, finance and capital markets transactions, and provides the full spectrum of corporate and financial law advice, including market abuse, corporate governance and company law.

He has also experience in corporate reorganizations, joint ventures and venture capital transactions.

He works across a variety of sectors, including regulated industries, such as energy, financial services and healthcare.

He is assistant lecturer for the course of corporate and finance law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Representative Legal Matters

ECM

  • Advised the banks' syndicate on the IPO of Biotalys
  • Advised JP Morgan in the context of the EUR 500 million convertible bonds issuance of Umicore SA
  • Advised the banks' syndicate on the 2017 rights issue of Aedifica
  • Advised Viohalco, a major Greek industrial group, on several corporate reorganizations involving complex and innovative techniques. It included several cross-border mergers and the IPOs of two new holding entities on Euronext Brussels and the Athens stock exchange
  • Advised on various ECM files in the context of his secondment in the Capital Markets team of KBC Group

M&A

  • Advised the French group Vivalto Vie Holding SAS on its EUR 185 million acquisition of a group of nursing homes in Belgium owned by Luxempart, Groupe Alliance, Caisse d’Epargne Nord France and other Belgian private shareholders
  • Advised a potential buyer of the insulation unit of Recticel in the context of the Greiner's public takeover
  • Advised Anheuser-Busch InBev on its acquisition of SABMiller for EUR 92 billion through a three-step transaction consisting of a scheme of arrangement in the UK, a Belgian takeover bid and a reverse merger under Belgian law whereby a new Belgian top company leads the combined group, with listings on Euronext Brussels, and the New York, Johannesburg and Mexico stock exchanges
  • Advised Elia on the transactional and regulatory aspects in connection the context of the acquisition of the local electricity transmission grid of Nethys SA in Belgium
  • Advised Asahi Glass Europe (AGC), a world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals, and high-tech materials, on the creation of a worldwide joint venture with Kinestral Technologies to sell, distribute and service smart-tinting glass
  • Advised RWE in connection with the potential acquisition of T-Power, a Belgian company operating a combined cycle power plant
  • Advised the Chugoku Electric Power Co. in connection with the acquisition of 49% of portfolios of operational onshore wind farms collectively known as EDPR France and EDPR Champions from EFG Hermes Holding and Abu Dhabi Investment Council
  • Advised Essent/Innogy in connection with the potential acquisition of E.ON’s power and gas client portfolio in NL and Belgium
  • Advised Novartis on the carve-out and the reorganization of its Belgian activities in the context of the USD 25 billion Alcon spin-off

Funds structuring & Formation

  • Advised SRIW and Sogepa on the structuring, creation and fund raising of the Amerigo Fund, a new fund launched by the Walloon Government in order to assist companies in the post COVID era
  • Advised the Belgian AIF VVH Invest SA on its structuring, establishment, capital raising and MIP
  • Advised a Belgian Biotech fund on its structuring, establishment and capital raising
  • Advised ForsVC a fund dedicated to videogame game on its structuring and establishment

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - Assistant Lecturer, Corporate and Finance Law course
  • London School of Economics (LSE) - Research Assistant, Securities Law (2014-2015)

Admissions

  • Brussels~Belgium (2015)

Education

  • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Post Graduate Degree in Corporate Finance (summa cum laude)) (2018)
  • London School of Economics (LSE) (LL.M. in Banking Law and Financial Regulation (high merit)) (2015)
  • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Law Degree (magna cum laude)) (2014)
  • Université Saint-Louis (B.Sc. Degree in Business Engineering (cum laude)) (2012)
  • University of Cambridge (ELM course in Common Law) (2012)

Languages

  • French
  • English
  • Dutch