About Lennart Crain
Lennart Crain is a Corporate/M&A and Private Equity partner at AKD who specialises in private and public M&A transactions, including auction sales, public bids, complex disentanglements and leveraged buyouts. He has a great deal of experience with transactions for financial institutions and private equity, and in the TMT, industrial and real estate sectors. He regularly works with leading international law firms on multi-jurisdictional deals. Lawyers and insurers consult him regularly in the field of W&I insurance.
Lennart's financial knowledge, which he acquired during his MBA at Columbia Business School, enables him to translate financial aspects into a deal strategy, negotiations and transaction documents. Clients appreciate the combination of his helicopter view and attention to detail.
His work is recognized by the international rankings Legal500 and IFLR in the fields of M&A and Private Equity, where his financial expertise is credited over the years. Sources describe him as “skilled”, “very responsive, knows what he is talking about” and “has deep knowledge of both legal and financial matters”.
By way of pro bono work Lennart served in Kosovo, after the declaration of independence from Serbia, as visiting attorney for the Legal Unit at the International Civilian Office and EU Special Representative.
He is recommended by the international rankings Legal500 and IFLR in the fields of M&A and Private Equity, with the following quotes from sources: “consistently outstanding", "bright, hardworking, efficient, and creative”, “has deep knowledge of both legal and financial matters”, “smart and sharp”, “good negotiator”.
Recent mandates:
- Nasdaq Stockholm listed Vitec Software Group in multiple software acquisitions
- Marlin Equity Partners on their public bid jointly with Altor for Meltwater (Dutch NV listed abroad) at c. EUR 540m
- Competing offeror on the potential EUR 2bn+ interloper public bid for AMS-listed Intertrust, a corporate services provider
- Blackstone Growth on a European acquisition
- PAI on various Dutch transactions
- Founders in the sale of their EdTech business to a US-based unicorn
- Euronext Amsterdam listed Neways on the unsolicited public offer by VDL and the subsequent, recommended, public offer by Infestos
- A Euronext Amsterdam listed issuer on a potential public offer, and the eventual squeeze out and delisting
- PFM Intelligence, a scaleup in the PropTech space, in the merger of its UK operations with a UK competitor
- Auction sale of NDC Media, the last major Dutch independent multimedia publisher, to Belgian Mediahuis
- PE firm’s exit from a financial services intermediary
- The founding family and management in the buyout of Megadyne by Partners Group and roll-over into a combination with Ammeraal Beltech at a combined EV of €2bn
- PE firm’s acquisition of a 5-star hotel
- KL-listed IOI’s sale of a 70% stake in Loders Croklaan to NYSE-listed Bunge at an EV of $1.4bn
Selected experience before AKD:
- Auction sale of insurer Nationale Borg by PE firms Egeria and HAL (to NYSE-listed AmTrust) for €154m
- NXP Semiconductors’ merger with Freescale, both NASDAQ-listed, at $40bn combined EV
- Related remedy auction sale of NXP’s RF Power business to Chinese PE firm JAC Capital for $1.8bn
- Various other deals in the Tech space, including aquisitions from founders
- Ballast Nedam on the public takeover offer by a Turkish construction company
- Privatization-auction of insurer VIVAT to China's Anbang
- D.E MasterBlenders on the €7.5bn public takeover offer by JAB
- Several other potential (sometimes competing/hostile) public takeover bids
- ABN AMRO’s acquisition of Brazilian bank
- Auction sale of VION Ingredients to NYSE-listed Darling for €1.6bn
- Royal Philips’ sale of 70%-stake in its TV division to JV with Chinese (HK-listed) TPV
- Publisher Telegraaf Media Group’s sale of local Limburg newspapers for € 200 million and the roll-over of a stake in SBS Television to Pro7Sat.1/SBS (with KKR and Permira), and various other mandates for publisher TMG
