Thierry Bosly
Biography
Overview
Partner Thierry Bosly is White & Case's Global Co-Head of Private Equity, and Head of the Firm's Belgium and Luxembourg transactional practices.
Thierry is a highly regarded lawyer, with more than 30 years of experience in the resolution of complex cross-border transactions, advising private equity and venture capital firms, family offices, global and European-based investors and other financial sponsors. His practice focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, including public and private acquisitions and divestitures, leveraged buyouts, going private transactions, tender offers, preferred equity investments and joint ventures.
He is consistently recognized by Chambers and Legal 500 as "leading individual" for the Private Equity and M&A practices, and is described by clients as "having a true strategic point of view, backed with a very strong legal knowledge" (The Legal 500, 2023), "combining expert and precise technical knowledge with a sense of commercial awareness" (Chambers, 2023).
Thierry is included in the list of the 'Twenty Most Influential Private Equity Lawyers 2023' by Private Equity News and 'Fifty Most Influential Lawyers in Europe' by Financial News.
Thierry has also developed an enviable professional reputation outside his everyday practice, being acknowledged as one of Belgium's foremost insolvency lawyers. His clients include companies facing insolvency, as well as companies interested in purchasing assets from insolvency debtors. With extensive experience of working with overseas counsel and coordinating advice across different territories, Thierry has been noted for his leadership role in significant cross-border and multijurisdictional restructurings and is consistently recognized by Chambers and Legal 500 as being a "leading individual" for the practice of Insolvency and Restructuring.
In 2008, he was appointed by the Belgian Minister of Justice to a commission of seven experts, responsible for drafting the insolvency law. In 2020, in response to the crisis due to COVID-19, the Belgian federal government appointed him as special advisor to work on editing the law on insolvency and enforcement proceedings, in order to help enterprises in financial distress navigate the crisis.
Thierry is a member of the Belgian arbitration and mediation center CEPANI, an independent facility composed of business leaders, academics, corporate legal experts and lawyers. He is also a member of the European Law Alumni Advisory Board of the Georgetown University Law Center.
UCL
Experience
Representation of Cobepa S.A. in the disposition and reinvestment of a portion of its position in Gen II Fund Services, LLC ("Gen II"), a leading independent private equity fund administrator, to a consortium of investors including General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, and Hg, a leading global software investor. Cobepa S.A. will continue to hold a minority position in Gen II.
Colisée, 2019
Thierry assisted the French group Financière Colisée SAS, in connection with the acquisition of 100% of the share capital in Belgian Armonea Group. With this acquisition, Financière Colisée SAS will become the 4th leader in the elderly care segment in Europe, with 270 nursing homes and 26.800 residents.
Cobepa, 2005-2019
Thierry has been assisting Cobepa, a privately-held investment company, for more than 15 years on numerous transactions across the globe, especially in connection with its acquisitions (such as Socotec, BALX Holdings, Babilou, EnoPlastic, Carmeuse, etc.).
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, 2015-2017
Thierry advised Crédit Mutuel Arkéa on its exclusive negotiations to acquire through Keytrade Bank, the Belgian branch of Arkea Direct Bank, the client portfolio of investment products and pensions saving funds from the Belgian branch of Dutch credit institution Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. Thierry also advised Crédit Mutuel Arkéa on its acquisition of Keytrade Bank in 2015.
Caprion Biosciences, 2016
Thierry advised Caprion Biosciences Inc., the leading provider of proteomics and immune monitoring services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, on the acquisition of the immune monitoring laboratory assets of ImmuneHealth ASBL.
Bank Degroof, 2015
Thierry was lead counsel to Bank Degroof on its merger with Petercam, forming the largest independent private bank in the Benelux.
Tractebel Engineering (GDF SUEZ), 2014
Thierry led the cross-border and cross-practices team that advised GDF SUEZ subsidiary and leading engineering company Tractebel Engineering on its recent acquisition of Lahmeyer, a Germany-based engineering company specializing in energy and water infrastructure.
Hamon, 2014
Thierry advised Hamon SA, a leading player in the engineering and contracting of cooling systems, process heat exchangers, air pollution control (APC) systems and chimneys (listed on NYSE Euronext Brussels), in a transaction which involved both the restructuring of its €375 million senior facilities and a debut €55 million 5.5 percent bonds, guaranteed by several of its subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Germany, the UK, the US and Hong Kong.
Major Win for Bank Indonesia, 2014-2019
Thierry represented Bank Indonesia (BI), the Indonesian central bank, in a major dispute with the trustees of its former Dutch subsidiary Indover. A judgment by the District Court of Amsterdam rejected all claims brought against BI and validated its claim of €43 million claim against the bankruptcy estate. Indover was one of the banks that did not survive the 2008 credit crunch and declared bankrupt. Its trustees had held BI liable for the entire deficit in the bankruptcy, but the court found that BI had provided substantial financial assistance to Indover, and was under no obligation to fully cover its subsidiary's debts.
MEDICA's Acquisition of SLG, 2013
Thierry led the cross-border and cross-practices team that advised French-listed company MEDICA, a leading provider of long- and short-term dependency care, on the 100 percent capital acquisition of Senior Living Group, a provider of long-term care in Belgium. Following the acquisition, the network operated by MEDICA comprised more than 22,500 beds, a third of which are outside France.
"The Reform of the Banking Sector in Europe, the Future of the Banking Union - Deposit Guarantee Schemes", 28 June 2013: UAE Congress, Lisbon
"The European Public Prosecutor and the Criminal Law Protection of the Financial Interests of the European Union: Advances in Belgian Law" ("L'institution du Procureur Européen et la Protection Pénale des Intérêts Financiers de l'Union Européenne – Les Avancées du Droit Belge"), 25 January 2013, organized by the European Commission Anti-Fraud Office, Milan
Co-author, "Insolvency trends in Continental Europe - Pre-packs: an efficient tool for implementing a successful restructuring?", DAOR, Revue Internationale du droit des affaires, 2014/4 N°112, December 2014
Co-author, "L'institution du procureur européen et la protection pénale des intérêts financiers de l'Union Européenne : Les avancées du droit belge," in L'Istituzione del Procuratore Europeo e la Tutela Penale degli Interessi Finanziari dell'Unione Europea, G. Giappichellie Editore, 2014 (with Nathalie Colin)
Belgian Chapter of "European Insolvency Regulations", Thompson Reuters/Aranzadi, 2010, (co-author with Muriel Alhadeff)
Overview of the Insolvency in Belgium, European Insolvency: the European regulation enforcement, Thomson Reuters/Aranzadi, 2010
Belgium: Legislation brings flexibility, Crediflux, December 2009
Preface of the Insolvency Handbook, World Insolvency Systems: A Comparative Study, Thomson Reuters, 2009
New rules on the verification of bankruptcy claims (Les nouvelles règles applicables à la procédure de vérification des créances en cas de faillite), J.T., 2006
Banks and conflicts of interest (Les banques et les conflits d'intérêts), Editions du jeune Barreau, 2005
Transfer of business goodwill and crystallisation of creditors' rights (Cession du fonds de commerce et cristallisation des droits des créanciers), La cession du fonds de commerce, C.U.P., Larcier, 2005
