A quintet of US and Dutch firms are acting on the initial public offering (IPO) of Dutch bank ABN AMRO, which is set to be Europe’s largest bank listing since the 2008 financial crisis.

ABN AMRO is to start trading on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange on 20 November, after raising up to €4.32bn (£3bn). 

De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek acted as the company’s Dutch legal adviser, with a team led by capital markets partner Jan Willem Hoevers.

He was assisted by fellow partners Joost Schutte and Francine Schlingmann in the drafting of the 750-page prospectus, as well as providing governance advice to the management and supervisory board.

Longtime adviser Davis Polk & Wardwell offered further counsel to the bank in respect of US law.

The Dutch government agency NL Financial Investments (NLFI) meanwhile turned to Allen & Overy (A&O) for advice on the sale of its shareholding in the bank, with corporate partner Annelies van der Pauw leading the team. She was assisted by fellow partner Tim Stevens and counsel Jetty Tukker.

The underwriters on the IPO, including Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Citigroup, turned to Stibbe managing partner Derk Lemstra who advised on Dutch law matters.

US legal advice was provided by Shearman & Sterling.

ABN AMRO was nationalised by the Dutch government in 2008 as a result of the financial crisis. It is now being returned to the market, with an equity value of around €15bn (£10.6bn) to €18.8bn (£13.3bn).

Background to the deal

A year before ABN was bailed out by the Dutch government, it was bought by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Fortis for €71bn, marking one of the largest ever bank takeovers at the time.

For the deal, ABN Amro turned to A&O and Davis Polk, with Nauta Dutilh acting as the lead Dutch adviser. De Brauw meanwhile acted for the consortium, along with its former alliance firm Linklaters and Shearman, which picked up a mandate advising RBS on US law.

ABN Amro’s former group deputy general counsel John Collins led the company’s legal team in the immediate aftermath of its takeover, but joined RBS as GC for the regions in 2008. He has since been appointed to the role of chief legal officer at the bank following Chris Campbell’s retirement.