Public-private partnership

Eubelius’ PPP team is built on close cooperation between attorneys in the Public & administrative law team and attorneys from our Corporate team, thus combining extensive knowledge and capability in public and administrative law with transactional corporate law and banking & finance skills and expertise.

As and when appropriate, our PPP core team can call upon our specialists in environmental law, property law, tax law, European law (including ESA rules), general contract and insurance law and litigation. Attorneys in each of these specialist supporting areas have developed a special focus on PPP-related legal issues within their own specific area of expertise.

This approach enables us to provide integrated responses to the most complex legal questions in connection with PPPs.

Efficient legal assistance in PPP projects necessarily calls for a multidisciplinary approach and integrated cooperation among specialists in the various legal domains concerned.

Some of our references

• Legal adviser to the Flemish public transport operator De Lijn for the structuring, awarding and implementation of all its PPP infrastructure and rolling stock projects, such as recently DBFM bus and tram depot infrastructure Ghent-Wissenhage and DBFM Premetro Antwerp phase 2 (2006-2023).
• Legal assistance to the competent Dutch authority for the structuring, awarding and implementation of the electronic toll road system in the Netherlands (2019-2023).
• Legal assistance to De Werkvennootschap for the structuring, awarding and implementation of the complex DBFM project relating to the “missing link” parts of the R4 road (2019-2023).
• Legal assistance to De Werkvennootschap, in cooperation with De Vlaamse Waterweg NV, in the framework of the DBFM project to replace around 30 moveable bridges (2023).
• Legal assistance to De Werkvennootschap for the DBFM project on the new N60, which will improve the liveability in Ronse and the accessibility of businesses in the Flemish Ardennes (2023).
• Legal assistance to a market-leading property developer in the framework of a PPP project on the development of student housing within the Usquare.brussels project (2022-2023).
• Legal assistance to Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV) and Water-Link in the framework of the realisation (DBFMO) of a cooling-water treatment plant in the port of Antwerp (2022-2023).
• Legal adviser to market-leading Belgian construction companies in the framework of the tender procedure (currently in the preferred bidder phase) and contractual negotiations relating to an important cluster of DBFM schools for the Flemish Agency for Education Infrastructure (AGION). In these DBFM projects, we combine our role as sponsors’ legal counsel with a role as transaction legal counsel for a market-leading Belgian lender (2019-2023).
• Legal adviser to a market-leading Belgian construction company during the competitive dialogue and contractual negotiations for the D&B project relating to the new master building for the Flemish Radio and Television broadcaster (VRT) (2020-2021).
• Legal adviser to a market-leading infrastructure fund in the framework of the tender procedure and contractual negotiations for the DBFM project relating to a new prison compound in the Walloon Region (2021-2023).
• Legal adviser to a private consortium in the framework of the tender procedure and contractual negotiations for the DBFM project relating to a new prison compound in the Flemish Region (2021-2023).
• Legal adviser to a private consortium of a market-leading Belgian construction company and a technical service provider in the framework of the competitive dialogue, contractual negotiations and contract close for a DBFMO project relating to a new major (mono-)sludge treatment plant for Aquafin (2021-2023).
• Legal adviser to the subcontractors of the winning private consortium in the framework of the complex PPP project relating to the modernisation of the public lighting equipment in the Walloon Region, including the contract & financial closing and the recent financial adjustment due to Covid-19 (2018-2021).
• Legal adviser to AG VESPA in the tendering, contractual implementation and restructuring of the large DBFM project “Antwerp Local Police Master Building” (2017-2020).
• Legal assistance to De Werkvennootschap and De Vlaamse Waterweg NV on the structuring, awarding and implementation of the DBFM project to construct and elevate 17 bridges over the Albert Canal (including all related contract drafting and negotiations) (2017-2019).
• Full-service legal assistance to the interregional entity Viapass for the structuring, awarding and ongoing implementation phase of the electronic toll road system in Belgium and permanent ongoing legal advice (2014-2023).
• Legal adviser to a market-leading technology services provider in the framework of the award procedure for the PPP project relating to the engineering and construction of all technical traffic installations on the future Oosterweel connection in Antwerp (2018-2019).
• Legal adviser to the NMBS/SNCB in the legal structuring and tendering for the development of its new headquarters and the sale of several office buildings. We assist the NMBS/SNCB in all aspects of the tender procedure, including drafting of all contracts and negotiations (2018-2023).
• Legal adviser to NMBS/SNCB in the framework of the realisation of its new logistics centre in Mechelen (2021-2023).
• Legal adviser to the Flemish PPP Knowledge Centre for the updating of the mini DBFM standard contract (and tender guidelines) for local projects, as well as of the corresponding task and risk allocation matrix (2018-2019).
• Legal adviser to GO! (Flemish Community Education) on the awarding and contractual structuring of a mixed development project in the city of Hasselt related to the design & build of an athlete training academy and the private revalorisation of a set of sites in the neighbourhood (2017-2019).
• Legal adviser to the public holding company Blue Gate Antwerp NV in the procurement for the redevelopment of the Blue Gate Antwerp brownfield site into a sustainable industrial and commercial site (2016).