Ghissignies & Partners — Counsel for the Bold
Ghissignies & Partners is a Brussels-rooted corporate practice advising mid-market European companies on the transactions, restructurings and regulatory decisions that define their next decade. We combine the rigour of a top-tier Belgian firm with a continental network of 41 partner firms — so one engagement opens a coordinated legal strategy across 18 jurisdictions, not a patchwork of unfamiliar counsel.
Request a partner consultation§ I — The Ledger
A practice is the sum of its mandates kept, its timelines honoured and its counsel retained. The following are the firm's verifiable metrics across the trailing eleven fiscal years.
The Practice Index
Every matter is staffed by a French- and English-speaking partner pair — and led by counsel whose average tenure at the firm is 18.4 years. The disciplines below are the firm's working surface; the bench is what carries them.
Buy-side and sell-side mandates for mid-market European companies, from bilateral acquisitions to competitive auctions and cross-border consolidations. Lead counsel on 137 deals valued €20M–€850M between 2018 and 2024.
Group reorganisations, liability management, distressed-to-control transactions and pre-insolvency advice. Designed to settle questions of capital, governance and continuity before they reach a courtroom.
Merger control before the European Commission and national authorities, antitrust compliance, foreign-investment screening and sector-specific regulation across the EU's principal jurisdictions.
Succession, holding structures and cross-border estate planning for founder families and significant shareholders — coordinated with the firm's corporate practice where ownership and operation intersect.
Commercial litigation before Belgian and Luxembourg courts, international arbitration, and the conduct of internal and regulatory investigations for boards, audit committees and special committees.
Executive transitions, collective restructuring, works-council strategy and cross-border mobility — including the social dimensions of transactions led by the corporate practice.
§ III — The Network
Ghissignies & Partners is the sole Belgian member of the European Mid-Market Counsel Alliance — a vetted network of 41 partner firms across 18 jurisdictions, all bound by a shared quality protocol. For a cross-border matter, this means a single engagement letter opens a coordinated legal strategy: aligned counsel, consistent reporting and a unified timetable, rather than the patchwork of unfamiliar advisers that typically attends a multi-jurisdiction deal.
The Alliance is not a referral directory. It is a working consortium — firms selected for the depth of their mid-market practice, retrained annually on the protocol and held to the same timeliness standard that distinguishes the home firm.
On the firm and its method§ IV — From The Ledger
Cross-border acquisition · 2024
We acted for a Belgian manufacturing group on the acquisition of three production sites in Germany, the Netherlands and northern France — coordinating competition filings across three regulators, integrating works councils in two jurisdictions and closing the financing in parallel with the share purchase. Counsel stayed constant from term sheet to closing; one engagement letter covered the entire transaction.
A Belgian manufacturing group · M&A
Restructuring & recapitalisation · 2023
We advised a Benelux private-equity fund on the operational and balance-sheet restructuring of a portfolio company across Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy — from board-level liability review to the intercreditor deed and the eventual exit. The matter closed inside the originally agreed timetable.
A Benelux private-equity fund · Restructuring
Matters described with client-category language only, in accordance with the firm's confidentiality undertakings.
§ V — Recognition
2021 · 2023 · 2024
Belgian Mid-Market Law Firm of the Year
European Legal Awards
2018 — 2024
Tier 1, Corporate / M&A, Belgium
Chambers Europe
11 years
96% client retention
Independent audit, 2024
2024
23 of the Belgian Trends Top 50
Mid-market companies advised
A Final Word
A thirty-minute consultation with a senior partner, by appointment. No obligation; no delegation to junior counsel.
