Ruben Kenis
Expertise
Ruben has assisted financial institutions, investors and sponsors with complex Belgian transactions in a wide range of project finance transactions in the infrastructure and energy sectors. Having worked as a dispute resolution lawyer for 5 years, he is able to assist clients when they are confronted with disputes or legal proceedings during the lifespan of the project, regardless of whether the problems arise in the construction phase or the operational phase.
Ruben also has considerable experience in real estate finance, guiding clients in both greenfield deals and distressed real estate (finance) transactions. He is a member of the Energy sector team and Infrastructure team of our Brussels office.
Ruben is a native Dutch speaker and is fluent in English and French.
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Work highlights
Some of Ruben's recent work highlights include:
- Structuring a large-scale Belgian EV charging project for Electra, including the construction, financing, and maintenance of fast charging stations at supermarket parking lots, and assisting with the related project financing (+75 sites, ~100 million EUR).
- Assisting various lenders in several major real estate (re-)financings, including the Pacheco and Zuiderpoort office buildings, and the PwC and Orange headquarters in Brussels.
- Restructuring two high-profile PPP projects in Antwerp: Brabo II road infrastructure and tramline, and Antwerp Police Headquarters.
- Setting up a securitisation scheme for a global top 5 car manufacturer’s European distribution network, including receivables assignment and delegation payment structures under Belgian law.
- Bringing several Wind4Flanders and Wind4Wallonia onshore wind projects to financial close as lenders’ counsel for ENGIE Electrabel (>200 million EUR), and assisting with the project financing of the ICO Windpark (~50 million EUR).
- Guiding Invesis and Alheembouw as lenders’ legal counsel with the financial close for PPP-DBFM school projects (Egied van Broeckhovenschool, ~50 million EUR; Broeders van Liefde, ~80 million EUR).
- Supporting AG Real Estate with the acquisition and refinancing of the DBFM project company in the Melsbroek A400M Hangar PPP project.
- Advising consortia in PPP-DBFM(O) files for design, construction, financing, and maintenance of inter alia prisons, road infrastructure, bus depots, tram depots and schools during tender and contract/financial close phases.
- Assisting Technip Energies to create the Rely joint venture with John Cockerill, that produces integrated hydrogen solutions for industrial and utility scale projects.
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What others say
Described by clients in Legal 500 in 2023 as ‘very customer oriented and efficiently managing the documentation process.’
Recognised in IFLR 2022 as: "Supportive, responsive and detailed."
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Ancillary functions
Ruben is serving as chairman of the IPFA Future Leaders Network (FLN) Committee since January 2024 and has been part of the committee since 2023. This role demonstrates his commitment to staying at the forefront of project finance and PPP industry trends and NautaDutilh’s strong presence in the market.
Ruben has been a teaching assistant in contract law at the Institute of the Law of Obligations at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) since 2022, closely working with professor dr. Sophie Stijns. He is amongst others a guest lecturer for the course “Contract law for businesses”.
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Qualifications
Ruben obtained his law degree cum laude from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in 2014. He was admitted to the Brussels Bar that same year. He also holds a certificate in International Sports Law of that same university, obtained in 2012.
Prior to joining NautaDutilh in January 2019, Ruben was active for almost four years in banking & finance litigation and asset-based finance transactions, including leasing and factoring. He has been part of the NautaDutilh finance team for more than seven years.
Ruben also regularly contributes and authors on topics such as project financing and PPP projects in Belgium, financial law in general, security interests and consumer credit law.