Government-commissioned report on the effects of private equity in the Netherlands generally positive |
The Netherlands is consistently ranked as one of the five most active private equity markets in Europe. However, private equity’s role in the Dutch economy has not gone unscrutinised; in 2015 two Labour Party MPs presented an “initiative note” to the Dutch parliament in which the private equity sector was portrayed as riddled with undesirable behaviour. Measures proposed by them include limits on interest deductibility, recapitalizations and the use of leverage; strengthening the position of works councils and the reintroduction of the financial assistance prohibition for BVs. As a first response, Minister of Finance Dijsselbloem commissioned a group of independent researchers to carry out a study of the sector. The group recently released the report of its findings, with generally positive results for the private equity sector:
We note that the Dutch private equity and venture capital association, the Nederlandse Vereniging van Participatiemaatschappijen (NVP), has presented three initiatives to the Dutch parliament to improve the sector’s reputation. Under these initiatives, the NVP i) plans to improve its communication, ii) has updated the sector’s code of conduct and iii) has drafted a document for works councils with information and suggestions regarding private equity takeovers. In response to the present report, it has also undertaken to make a committed effort to gather and provide more data. |
Compliments of NautaDutilh