As of April 1st, 2014, the leading law firm Astrea has significantly expanded its capabilities with the arrival of new partner Dieter Veestraeten, who previously worked at Loyens & Loeff.
The arrival of Dieter strengthens Astrea's ability to handle complex and cross-border financial transactions for domestic and foreign clients. Dieter will join the Corporate & Finance team with its long experience in advising large Belgian and foreign companies and multinationals in the field of international finance transactions, debt transactions, restructuring and regulatory advice. With this expansion Astrea will have 10 partners and a total of 35 lawyers, 14 of which practise Corporate & Finance law. The aim is to further expand Astrea by attracting new partners and associates in the near future.
Astrea's partners Ciska Servais and Olivier Van Fraeyenhoven, in charge of the executive management of Astrea, comment: "We are particularly delighted with the arrival of Dieter. Expanding our services and strengthening our office is another step toward our goal of turning Astrea into a leading independent full service law firm with extensive expertise and strong competencies in all legal practice areas that companies and governments have to deal with."
Steven De Schrijver and Frédéric Verspreeuwen, partners in the Corporate Department of Astrea, note that: "Dieter brings along 14 years of experience in financial matters and a great number of international contacts. With his arrival we will be able to assist our clients, such as banks, companies, start-up and venture capital funds or governments, even better in all their Belgian and cross-border financing transactions."
With his thorough knowledge of German, acquired during his studies and an internship with a leading German law firm, Dieter also strengthens the German Desk of Astrea. Partners Marc Van Looveren and Louis Verstraeten, who are responsible for the German Desk, state, "with the arrival of an additional partner who can perfectly serve our clients in German, we are particularly well-equipped to assist all German companies in all possible transactions and disputes in Belgium. His network in German-speaking countries is certainly a nice addition to Astrea's current network and allows us to assist and advise our Belgian clients legally even better during their operations in those countries."
Dieter Veestraeten states: "I look forward to joining Astrea and expanding its Banking & Finance Department. Astrea's commercial and no-nonsense approach to legal advice, its entrepreneurial spirit and ambition to grow, were extremely motivating and decisive factors to join the law firm."
Dieter Veestraeten adds that "Astrea's vision on business law fits perfectly with my own vision. Today companies are more than ever looking for excellent service at a reasonable price, even in financing matters."
