Business law firm Lydian, with offices in Brussels and Antwerp, is strengthening its tax law practice through a partnership with the Belgian branch of Taxand, the largest international network of law offices specialised in tax law with more than 2,000 tax specialists in 50 countries. Lydian also welcomes a new partner in its Corporate & Finance department. In doing so, Lydian grows to 67 lawyers and reinforces its position as a leading independent firm in Belgium. As one of the principal Belgian law offices, this allows Lydian to prepare for the post-crisis era and will be in an even better position to offer its clients high-quality services.
As of 1 November 2010, Lydian will enter into a partnership with AB Taxand, the Belgian branch of the international network of tax lawyers. At the moment, the office is led by Geert De Neef, who specialises in international tax planning, corporate tax as well as M&A and real estate transactions. Thanks to the six-person team around Geert De Neef, Lydian is equipped with a solid fiscal practice. Because of Taxand's worldwide network, Lydian's clients now also have access to an international service in tax law.
Geert Deneef is delighted to be able to join Lydian with his team: “The combination of a fully-fledged tax team with Lydian's reputable practice provides an added value for our customers and allows us to offer them better guidance in their transactions.”
Also, the Corporate & Finance practice of Lydian has been considerably strengthened with the arrival of Patrick della Faille, who was previously active with Loeff Claeys Verbeke, Nauta Dutilh and Liedekerke. During his 15-year career, della Faille has gained extensive experience in corporate law, financial law and stock exchange transactions. With della Faille and his three colleagues Lydian will thus gain a stronger foothold in French-speaking Belgium.
“Lydian's dynamic and integrated approach as well as the team's leading position in a number of sectors and their extensive professional knowledge convinced me that Lydian is the ideal office for me to continue serving my clients”, Patrick della Faille comments.
With the new partnership, Lydian demonstrates that it has succeeded in continuing to grow steadily in spite of the difficult post-crisis climate. Managing partner Jan Hofkens: “Since the outbreak of the financial crisis, Lydian has been able to maintain a solid turnover and has even expanded in terms of lawyers. The reinforcement of our tax branch bears witness to that. Since the crisis, we've noticed that customers are leaning more and more toward strong Belgian firms that offer their expertise at national rates and deliver top quality. Lydian makes full use of this growth market.”
Patrick della Faille
Patrick della Faille graduated from Law at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) in 1992 and earned a Master's in Corporate Law at the IAG-UCL and subsequently a diploma from the Belgian Association of Financial Analysts. He started his career with Loeff Claeys Verbeke (now Allen & Overy) in the Corporate and Tax department and, in 2000, founded Arvensia, an online business in the grain industry. Della Faille is specialised in financial markets, chiefly in equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity. He has advised clients from a broad range of sectors, including green energy, financial services, transport, high-tech and the food industry. Previously, Della Faille was senior associate at Nauta Dutilh and partner at Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck & Kirkpatrick.
AB Taxand – Geert De Neef
AB Taxand, the Belgian branch of the first global network of independent tax practitioners, was founded in 2005 by the partners Willy Platteeuw and Geert De Neef. Geert De Neef earned his law degree from the Catholic University of Leuven and a Master's in Financial Management at the Brussels Business School. He already has more than 20 years' experience as a financial advisor and tax lawyer and is, among other things, the author of the standard work on tax aspects in the transfer of business. He assists various international and Belgian companies in the fiscal reorganisation of their activities.
As from 1 November, the Brussels AB Taxand team will be moving into Lydian's offices in the Tour & Taxis complex.
