Established in New York in 1946, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is an international law firm with offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Its Belgian presence dates back to 1960 when it opened its Brussels office. 

Focusses / specialisms 

In Belgium, the firm is especially strong in M&A, with banking and capital markets also being areas of activity. 

The banking practice focuses mostly on cross-border transactional and advisory work rather than commoditised or purely national work. The firm’s client list is broad and includes blue chip Belgian and international issuers, state-owned companies, large banks and international private equity houses. 

A hallmark of the firm’s top-tier M&A practice is its international focus, as it is often appointed as a lead transactional counsel on deals covering multiple jurisdictions.  

An area of relative strength in the capital markets practice is debt, but the firm is also highly active in equity. The firm’s recent work includes significant issuer-side engagements, as well as advice to many prominent international and Belgian financial institutions on the bank or joint lead manager’s side. 

Key clients 

Key clients include Bekaert, Bpost, ING Bank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JC Flowers, Altus Capital, Infrabel, ArcelorMittal, Eurofima, Anheuser Busch InBev, Barco, Umicore, UBS, Swift, CVC Capital Partners, TPG, General Motors, Goodyear and Texas Instruments, Elia, Ontex and Befimmo.