Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance Amsterdam advises Lucerne Capital Management in Enterprise Chamber proceedings regarding the EUR 5.7 billion public offer by Next Private B.V. for all outstanding shares of Altice Europe N.V.

Clifford Chance Amsterdam advised and represented investment firm Lucerne Capital Management ("Lucerne") in Enterprise Chamber proceedings regarding the EUR 5.7 billion public offer by Next Private B.V. for all outstanding shares of cable and telecom company Altice Europe N.V. ("Altice Europe").

Altice Europe launched a buy-out offer in September 2020. As a long-term shareholder of Altice Europe, Lucerne objected to the complete takeover of Altice Europe by major stakeholder Next Private B.V., raised concerns about the price of the offer and called into question the legality of the structure of the offer.

Lucerne then filed a petition with the Enterprise Chamber in Amsterdam in December 2020, asking the court to order an inquiry into Altice Europe, to appoint three independent non-executive directors to assess and supervise the original offer, and to prohibit a vote on the pre-wired restructuring measures. Several other minority shareholders, as well as the Dutch Association for Shareholders, joined or supported the action. Next Private B.V. subsequently raised the offer price by more than 30% (from EUR 4,11 to EUR 5,35 per share) as part of a settlement, with Lucerne and other shareholders withdrawing their claims.  

Clifford Chance represented Lucerne in Enterprise Chamber proceedings. The team was led by Dirk-Jan Duynstee and further consisted of Jan-Hendrik Horsmeier, Tiemen Drenth, Robin Traas and Johanneke Butijn.