Welcome to this week’s Spotlight, where we introduce you to Douglas Gibbs, an English-qualified counsel in our Amsterdam office. Douglas advises funds, banks and sponsors on Dutch and English corporate lending matters across the credit spectrum, drawing on extensive fund finance experience and expertise in green loan and sustainability‑linked financing.
Let’s get to know a bit more about Douglas, his practice, and the Netherlands fund finance market.
I was initially drawn to finance by the variety and the speed of transactions – deals tend to open and close fairly quickly, which means there's always something new on the horizon. Finance lawyers need to have a solid grasp of several different areas of law, which makes it very intellectually stimulating. And it's very rewarding to develop long-lasting relationships with our clients and help them as their business and financing needs evolve over time.
Since finance is a particularly international field, it's also been the best way to practice as an English lawyer in continental Europe. I began my career at another firm in London and relocated to Amsterdam about eight years ago. In that time my practice has grown from traditional bank corporate lending and real estate finance to a mixed practice with greater focus on direct lending, leveraged finance, and fund finance. Our Amsterdam practice is at the very forefront of the private credit boom in the Netherlands, and we advise almost all Dutch credit funds and PE sponsors on their financing arrangements.
Deal volume in the Netherlands has also remained stable, with considerable competition between funds making acquisition bids. As a result, there remains appetite for leverage and liquidity to facilitate rapid deployment of capital by bridging the gap to traditional third-party acquisition financings.
Historically, many Dutch funds had limited capacity to incur leverage, but that is increasingly changing. As a result, we expect to see continued growth in this part of the market, both for subscription line and NAV facilities. We have also seen several funds making use of fund-level acquisition-purpose revolving credit facilities for acquisition bridges, especially in the real estate sector.
What can you tell us about your capabilities in the region?
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader has one of the most comprehensive finance practices in the Netherlands, covering the full spectrum of fund finance, leveraged finance, real estate finance, corporate lending, bonds, and securitisations. Our team consists of two partners and four counsel, supported by eight associates, and we have been and remain in rapid growth mode in recent years. We have close relationships with most of the private equity and credit funds active in the Netherlands and can use them to continue developing the fund finance offering in the Dutch market, thanks to Hogan Lovells Cadwalader's combined expertise.
Our team is highly international. Partner Wouter Jongen and I are both dual qualified in England and the Netherlands, and we have a mix of Dutch and international associates on the team. With both English and Dutch law documents popular in the Netherlands, we offer jurisdiction-agnostic advice to market participants.
What are some of your most recent noteworthy deals?
While many of our deals are confidential, we've publicly announced that we advised:
- Triton on the €1.5bn financing and simultaneous corporate reorganization of its portfolio company, Hanab.
- Egeria on fund finance and GP facility lines secured against investor contributions and fund manager receivables.
- Omoda on the financing for its acquisition of Wehkamp.
- Bridgepoint on the financing for its acquisition of Hanseatic Broking Centre.
The firm was also recently named one of the top three law firms for H1 2026 private credit work in Europe in 9fin's Private Credit League Tables, which really underscores our strength in servicing our fund clients.
What book, movie, or TV show would you most recommend to others?
Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed is a great read on growth mindset – which is relevant for everything from deals to personal life. On a somewhat lighter side, you can't beat the original Lord of the Rings trilogy (the best films ever made?), and for TV, probably the original (UK) The Office.