Ruben Foriers’ practice focuses on public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, corporate governance, and financial matters.

His experience spans the range of M&A activity, including both domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, divestitures, joint ventures, and other complex corporate and commercial transactions, as well as public takeovers and takeover defense. He also regularly advises boards of directors and management on a variety of topics, including governance, disclosure, securities laws, and shareholder engagement and activism matters.

In addition, Ruben has significant experience in transactions across a variety of regulated sectors, including the financial institutions industry and public sector entities.

He publishes regularly on corporate and securities regulation matters.

Ruben joined the firm as a stagiaire in 2016 and returned to the firm as an associate in 2018.

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Notable Experience

  • Ackermans & van Haaren in connection with the spin-off and listing of DEME from its listed subsidiary CFE.

  • Allianz Group and its subsidiary Allianz Benelux in several matters, including the €1.4 billion sale of a closed-book life retail insurance portfolio under Solvency II, together with 4,500 mortgage loans, to Monument Assurance Belgium.

  • Allied Universal, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company, in its acquisition of Attenti Electronic Monitoring Group.

  • Alstom on corporate aspects of its divestitures in relation to the then-proposed combination with Siemens’ mobility business.

  • Atalian Holding Development and Strategy in the sale of La Financière Atalian S.A.S. to private investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

  • BNP Paribas in several transactions, including its acquisition of a stake of approx. 9% in Ageas SA/NV, a listed insurance group, from Fosun Group for approx. €730 million, and in a combined €3 billion deal involving its AG Insurance stake sale and its reinvestment in Ageas.

  • Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille (CNP) in its strategic investment in, and partnership with, Equine Care Group.

  • Collibra in several matters, including its $250 million Series F financing round at a post-money valuation of $5.25 billion, and its $112.5 million Series E financing round, where Collibra was valued at $2.3 billion (pre-money).

  • CVC Capital Partners in the exit sale of Continental Foods, previously the European activities of Campbell Soup.

  • D’Ieteren in several transactions, including the sale by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice of a minority interest in Belron to Hellman & Friedman, GIC and BlackRock.

  • General Motors in the €1.3 billion sale of its Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary and in the €0.9 billion sale of its GM Financial’s European operations to PSA Group.

  • Goldman Sachs International, Deutsche Bank, NatWest Markets, Société Générale, KBC Bank, BMO Capital Markets and Credit Suisse as underwriters in a €400 million Reg S/Rule 144A senior notes offering by Nyrstar.

  • Monument Re and its subsidiary Monument Assurance Belgium in several transactions, including the acquisitions of a €2.6 billion closed-book retail insurance portfolio from AXA Belgium, a retail life insurance portfolio from Federale Verzekering, and a group life insurance portfolio from Contassur.

  • Nethys in the review of various strategic options for its majority stake in insurance company Integrale.

  • NN Group and its subsidiary NN Insurance Belgium in various matters, including in the €3.3 billion sale of a closed-book life retail insurance portfolio to Athora Belgium, and in the renegotiation of its long-term distribution agreement with ING Bank in Belgium.

  • Ontex Group in several transactions, including the sale of its Mexican and Brazilian businesses to Softys for an aggregated value of €375 million.

  • Ottobock in its acquisition of V!GO International.

  • Showpad in its sale to Vector Capital as part of the contemplated merger between Showpad and Bigtincan.

  • Solvay in the spin-off of its global Specialty activities and the dual listing of the new Specialty holding company (Syensqo) on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Paris. 

  • Umicore in its acquisition of Haldor Topsoe’s global heavy-duty diesel and stationary catalyst businesses.

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Selected Activities

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  • Affiliated Researcher at the Jan Ronse Institute for Company and Financial Law, 2016-2022
  • Exchange program at Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2015-2016

Publications

“De vijfde verjaardag van de Belgische Corporate Governance Code 2020: enkele tendensen uit de praktijk,” TRV-RPS, December 31, 2025, pp. 909-935.

“Shareholder Approval for Transfers of Significant Assets in Belgium: Practical Considerations and Open Questions,” Corporate Finance Lab, February 23, 2024.

“The Securities Law Framework: A Fly in the Ointment of Activists?” in Shareholder Activism in Belgium: Boon or curse for sustainable value creation? October 1, 2023, pp. 269-324.

2025 UK and European Capital Markets Update: “All Change!”

The EU Listing Act: Important Changes to MAR

The Securities Law Framework: A Fly in the Ointment of Activists?

“Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid in vennootschappen,” Curatoren en vereffenaars: Actuele ontwikkelingen VI, December 2021, pp. 337-371.

“Bestuurdersaansprakelijkheid in vennootschappen: een veldonderzoek,” Themis 117 – Vennootschapsrecht, April 15, 2021, pp. 1-30.

“Shareholder Rights Directive II: The Belgian Perspective,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo, April 2020.

“Leveraged Corporate Control - Zijn er lessen te trekken uit de Amerikaanse ‘Dual-Class Share’ en ‘Tenure Voting’ structuren voor het Belgisch loyauteitsstemrecht?” Tijdschrift voor Rechtspersoon en Vennootschap, 2019/2, April 1, 2019, pp. 221-238.

“Een juridische zombie: de maatschap als kwalificatie voor een onbenoemde of feitelijke samenwerking,” by Joeri Vananroye and Ruben Foriers, Tijdschrift voor Rechtspersoon en Vennootschap, December 2015, pp. 767-787.