Ruud Smits
Expertise
Ruud Smits advises domestic and international clients on corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments and joint ventures. Ruud is co-head of our Healthcare & Life Sciences and Technology teams, and Ruud has extensive M&A experience in these sectors.
In the field of Life Sciences and Technology, Ruud and his team advise domestic and international clients in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices sectors, from start-ups, investors to market leaders. Given his established American client base, he travels to the U.S. on a regular basis.
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Work highlights
- Advising Liberty Mutual on the acquisition of Nationale Borg, Uber in its Joint Ventures with Yandex Taxi and Grab
- Advising Acerta, Sansei Technologies on the acquisition of Vekoma Rides
- Advising Johnson & Johnson on the acquisition of Innovalens, Fysicon in its acquisition by Canon Medical Systems Corporation;
- Assisting AcertaPharma B.V. with the sale of 55% of the entire issued share capital of Acerta to AstraZeneca for unconditional payments of USD 4 billion
- Advising WeWork on its multibillion dollar investment by SoftBank
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What others say
- ‘Ruud Smits is extremely engaged and knowledgeable about the sector. He is able to negotiate in a very businesslike manner which manages complex cross-cultural situations perfectly.’
The Legal 500 2024 - 'Ruud Smits: outstanding client engagement, proactivity, negotiation skills and great personality.'
The Legal 500 2021 - 'Very practical. Good at managing his team. Country-specific expert.'
IFLR1000 2020 - 'Very supportive and responded to our questions and requests in a timely manner.'
IFLR1000 2020
- ‘Ruud Smits is extremely engaged and knowledgeable about the sector. He is able to negotiate in a very businesslike manner which manages complex cross-cultural situations perfectly.’
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Qualifications
Ruud has completed the Grotius Academy specialisation course on securities in 2007, after graduating from Maastricht University in 2001. Between 2011 and 2016, Ruud headed the corporate practice of our New York office.