NautaDutilh assists NS Groep N.V. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Abellio Nederland with the sale of bus and tram transport company Qbuzz to Busitalia-Sita Nord S.r.L. NautaDutilh, as lead counsel to long-standing client NS and Abellio, has organised and lead an international auction sale process, conducted an in-depth vendor due diligence investigation and negotiated with various interested parties from various jurisdictions, ultimately resulting in the signing of a share sale and purchase agreement with Busitalia-Sita Nord S.r.L. and its ultimate parent company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. for the sale and purchase of Qbuzz and its affiliates. Both NS Groep N.V. and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. are ultimately state owned companies. The contemplated transaction is subject to customary completion conditions, including merger clearance by the Dutch competition authority, ACM. The transaction value is undisclosed; the deal was signed on 13 July 2017; the closing is expected in Q3 of 2017.

The NautaDutilh team consisted of Max van Verschuer and Michael Oldenburger (Corporate M&A); Barbara Nijs and Herman Speyart (Competition and Public Procurement); Marianne de Waard-Preller and Dido Wolvius (Corporate Notarial); Edward Rijnhout (Tax) and many others.