Paul Kuipers

Paul heads the firm’s Banking practice in Amsterdam, leading a team of lawyers who advise clients on complex domestic and cross-border finance deals. Paul acts for Dutch and international financial institutions and corporates on a range of finance transactions, with a focus on restructuring situations.

Paul has considerable knowledge of restructuring techniques, advising on some of the most defining restructurings in recent times. He advises corporates, sponsors and financial institutions on debt and equity restructurings, workouts, stressed and distressed reorganisations, insolvency and related litigation.

Paul spent six months on secondment to the firm’s London office in 2009, where he developed relationships with a range of London-based banks.  

Work highlights

Paul has led on a significant number of major finance transactions and almost all restructuring and insolvency deals led by the Amsterdam office. Highlights of his experience include advising:

• Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SA: advising on the successful cross-border restructuring of McDermott International and Lealand Finance Company as implemented by means of a Dutch WHOA and concurrently an English Restructuring Plan, involving the amendment and extension of $2.6 billion in letter of credit and term loan facilities, and the discharge and release of approximately $2 billion in unsecured litigation claims.

• Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (now liquidated): advising on its corporate restructuring, delisting and EUR 10bn debt and equity restructuring, resulting in its liquidation in fall 2023 and the transfer of assets and liabilities to a new holding company held by five independent Dutch trust foundations.

• Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (now liquidated): advising on its EUR 14bn debt restructuring undertaken through a Dutch law suspension of payments proceedings.

• The coordinating committee of secured creditors: advising on the restructuring of Van Gansewinkel Groep's syndicated debt facilities.

• The lenders, including ING, ABN AMRO Bank and Rabobank: advising on a facility agreement for the financially distressed Dutch department store Vroom & Dreesmann.

• Estro Groep: advising the coordinating committee on the market-shaping financial restructuring of Estro Groep.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers: advising as administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) and all other Lehman entities in administration, which is the largest and most complex insolvency in history.

• Royal Bank of Scotland: advising on the asset separation following the takeover of ABN AMRO Bank, as well as the completion of the legal demerger of ABN AMRO Bank.

Paul regularly lectures on restructuring topics at the post-academic courses organised by the University of Nijmegen.

Paul’s published articles include:

Chapter on the Netherlands, The Restructuring Review, published by Law Business Research, annually since 2014

“The Insolvency of Van der Hoop Bankiers: EU banking law in action”, International Corporate Rescue, 2006

“Judicial Comity and Chauvinism: the need to go forum shopping in insolvency matters”, International Corporate Rescue, 2004

Paul studied law at the University of Groningen and for a postgraduate qualification in insolvency on a Grotius course at the University of Nijmegen.

He speaks Dutch and English.