European Tax Awards 2017: Winners announced

Deloitte showed the greatest strength and depth in its international tax practice throughout Europe to win the European Tax Firm of the Year and Transfer Pricing awards on May 18. The firm also won a number of national awards for its innovative work and tailored advice to clients.

Vieira de Almeida & Associados won the European Court of Justice Firm of the Year, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was named the European Tax Disputes Firm of the Year.

WTS Global won European Indirect Tax Firm of the Year.

This year's Editor's Choice award was won by the European Commission's Margrethe Vestager, for her phenomenal efforts to get multinationals paying their fair share of tax.

The awards were presented at a dinner at the Savoy Hotel on May 18. They consisted of national trophies for the best tax and transfer pricing firms in 27 jurisdictions; regional categories, such as for tax policy and compliance & reporting; and deal awards focusing on the leading matters in a number of industry sectors and practice areas such as M&A, capital markets, media & entertainment and technology & telecommunications.

The European Tax Awards have taken place annually since 2005 and seek to recognise the leading international tax professionals from around Europe and South Africa.

To win, firms composed a 500-word description of their objectives for the 2016 calendar year and how they were achieved, highlighting areas where the work done by the team made a significant impact on the overall goals of the company.

Between December 2016 and February 2017, law firms, tax advisers, accountants and other tax service providers from the following jurisdictions submitted three examples of their best work for consideration for the national tax and transfer pricing awards:

Austria; Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania); Belgium; Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia); Cyprus (no TP award); Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Luxembourg; Malta (no TP award); Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Russia; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; UK and Ukraine.

The awards for European Tax Firm of the Year, European Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year, US Tax Firm of the Year in Europe and Best Newcomer (international tax practices of <5 years) were judged from these submissions.

There were separate submission forms for the European regional awards covering tax disputes, indirect tax, tax compliance and reporting, innovation and tax technology.

The awards were judged according to:

• Size (Not conclusive, though it does indicate what a tax team is capable of taking on);

• Innovation (Did the advice the firm gave show something more than the straightforward answer that is commonly used? Did the matter address tax issues that were out of the ordinary and what ingenuity did the firm show to solve them?); and

• Impact (What effect did the matter have on the client's business? Was it transformative? What has the conclusion of the matter enabled the client to achieve?

Austria Tax Firm of the Year

Austria Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Baltic States Tax Firm of the Year

Baltic States Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Belgium Tax Firm of the Year

Belgium Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Central and Eastern Europe Tax Firm of the Year

Central and Eastern Europe Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Cyprus Tax Firm of the Year

Denmark Tax Firm of the Year

Denmark Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Finland Tax Firm of the Year

Finland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

France Tax Firm of the Year

France Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Germany Tax Firm of the Year

Germany Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Greece Tax Firm of the Year

Greece Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Hungary Tax Firm of the Year

Hungary Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Ireland Tax Firm of the Year

Ireland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Italy Tax Firm of the Year

Italy Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Luxembourg Tax Firm of the Year

Luxembourg Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Malta Tax Firm of the Year

Netherlands Tax Firm of the Year

Netherlands Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Norway Tax Firm of the Year

Norway Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Poland Tax Firm of the Year

Poland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Portugal Tax Firm of the Year

Portugal Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Russia Tax Firm of the Year

Russia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

South Africa Tax Firm of the Year

South Africa Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Spain Tax Firm of the Year

Spain Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Sweden Tax Firm of the Year

Sweden Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Switzerland Tax Firm of the Year

Switzerland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Turkey Tax Firm of the Year

Turkey Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Ukraine Tax Firm of the Year

Ukraine Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

UK Tax Firm of the Year

UK Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

US Law Firm in Europe

European Tax Innovator of the Year

European Tax Policy Firm of the Year

Best Newcomer

European Tax Technology Firm of the Year

European Tax Compliance and Reporting Firm of the Year

European Banking Tax Deal of the Year

European Consumer Products Tax Deal of the Year

European Capital Markets Tax Deal of the Year

European Energy Tax Deal of the Year

European Financial Services Tax Deal of the Year

European Joint Venture Tax Deal of the Year

European M&A Tax Deal of the Year

European Media and Entertainment Tax Deal of the Year

European Private Equity Tax Deal of the Year

European Tax Restructuring Deal of the Year

European Telecommunications and Technology Tax Deal of the Year

European In-House Team of the Year – Direct Tax

European In-House Team of the Year – Transfer Pricing

European Indirect Tax Firm of the Year

European Tax Disputes Firm of the Year

European Court of Justice Firm of the Year

European Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

European Tax Firm of the Year

Editor’s Choice Award

> bpv Hügel

> DLA Piper

> Wolf Theiss

> EY

> KPMG

> PwC

> COBALT

> Ellex Valiunas

> GLIKMAN ALVIN

> Sorainen

> EY Czech Republic

> KPMG

> PwC

> Sorainen

> Baker McKenzie

> Deloitte

> Linklaters

> Mayer Brown

> Baker McKenzie

> Liedekerke

> Mayer Brown

> Deloitte Czech Republic

> Deloitte Romania

> Deloitte Slovak Republic

> Deloitte Slovenia

> DLA Piper

> EY

> Taxhouse, Taxand Romania

> Deloitte Bulgaria

> Deloitte Czech Republic

> Deloitte Romania

> Deloitte Slovak Republic

> Deloitte Slovenia

> EY Czech Republic

> Taxhouse, Taxand Romania

> Eurofast, Taxand Cyprus

> EY

> KPMG

> PwC

> Bruun & Hjejle

> Deloitte

> EY

> Plesner

> Alder & Sound

> Borenius Attorneys, Taxand Finland

> Deloitte

> EY

> Borenius Attorneys, Taxand Finland

> Deloitte

> EY

> Arsene, Taxand France

> Baker McKenzie

> Bredin Prat

> Dentons

> DLA Piper

> Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

> Mayer Brown

> Arsene, Taxand France

> Taj, Société d'Avocats (Deloitte)

> Mayer Brown

> DLA Piper

> Flick Gocke Schaumburg, Taxand Germany

> Hengeler Mueller

> Hogan Lovells

> Mayer Brown

> Oppenhoff & Partner

> Baker Tilly

> Flick Gocke Schaumburg, Taxand Germany

> Hengeler Mueller

> NERA Economic Consulting

> Oppenhoff & Partner

> WTS Group

> Deloitte

> Zepos & Yannopoulos, Taxand Greece

> Deloitte

> Zepos & Yannopoulos, Taxand Greece

> Baker McKenzie

> DLA Piper

> EY

> WTS Klient Tax Advisory

> Deloitte

> DLA Piper

> WTS Klient Tax Advisory

> Deloitte

> Maples and Calder

> Matheson

> William Fry, Taxand Ireland

> EY

> KPMG

> Matheson

> PwC

> William Fry, Taxand Ireland

> BonelliErede

> Chiomenti

> Maisto e Associati

> Tremonti Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati

> Valente Associati GEB Partners

> BonelliErede

> Deloitte

> DLA Piper

> Maisto e Associati

> Allen & Overy

> ATOZ Tax Advisers, Taxand Luxembourg

> Baker McKenzie

> Dentons

> Van Campen Liem

> Deloitte

> KPMG

> Loyens & Loeff

> PwC

> KPMG

> PwC

> Baker McKenzie

> De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

> Deloitte

> DLA Piper

> Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

> Taxand Netherlands

> Van Campen Liem

> Baker McKenzie

> Deloitte

> Taxand Netherlands

> Deloitte

> KPMG

> PwC

> Crido, Taxand Poland

> Deloitte

> DLA Piper

> EY

> MDDP

> Wardyński & Partners

> EY

> Kochański Zięba & Partners

> MDDP

> Garrigues, Taxand Portugal

> Linklaters

> Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados

> PLMJ

> PwC

> RFF & Associados

> Vieira de Almeida & Associados

> Baker Tilly

> EY

> PwC

> Baker McKenzie

> EY

> KPMG

> Pepeliaev Group, Taxand Russia

> PwC

> Deloitte

> KPMG

> PwC

> EY

> ENSafrica, Taxand South Africa

> KPMG

> ENSafrica, Taxand South Africa

> EY

> KPMG

> Baker McKenzie

> Cuatrecasas

> DLA Piper

> EY

> Garrigues, Taxand Spain

> Uría Menéndez

> Deloitte

> EY

> Garrigues, Taxand Spain

> Landwell

> Deloitte

> EY

> Svalner

> EY

> KPMG

> PwC

> ADB

> Lenz & Staehelin

> Schellenberg Wittmer

> Tax Partner AG, Taxand Switzerland

> Baker McKenzie

> KPMG

> PwC

> Tax Expert International AG

> Baker McKenzie

> Deloitte

> EY

> Mazars Denge

> PwC

> Centrum Consulting

> Deloitte

> EY

> WTS & Çelen

> Dentons

> DLA Piper

> EPAP, Taxand Ukraine

> EY

> International Legal Center EUCON

> KPMG

> PwC

> Baker McKenzie

> DLA Piper

> EY

> International Legal Center EUCON

> KPMG

> PwC

> WTS Tax Legal Consulting (KM Partners)

> Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

> Allen & Overy

> DLA Piper

> Macfarlanes

> Simmons & Simmons

> Slaughter and May

> Weil, Gotshal & Manges

> Baker McKenzie

> Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

> Grant Thornton

> McDermott Will & Emery

> DLA Piper

> Mayer Brown

> Weil, Gotshal & Manges

> White & Case

> Alder & Sound

> Deloitte Belgium

> Deloitte Spain

> Taxamo

> Baker McKenzie

> EY

> Maples and Calder

> Matheson

> Ellex Valiunas

> Philippe Derouin

> BearingPoint

> Deloitte Luxembourg

> Taxback International

> WTS Group

> Deloitte Netherlands

> EY

> Tax Partner AG, Taxand Switzerland

> WTS Klient Tax Advisory

> Alpha Bank's sale of its majority interest in Ionian Hotel Enterprises S.A. to Doğuş Tourism Group and TEMES: White & Case; Allen & Overy

> New real estate investment fund managed by IDeA Fimit SGR involving a property portfolio transaction: DLA Piper; Chiomenti; Legance

> Rothschild & Co's merger with Compagnie Financière Martin Maurel: Bredin Prat; BDGS

> Sale of a portfolio of secured and non-secured loans (Project Eloise): Uría Menéndez; Linklaters; Davis Polk & Wardwell

> Transfer of the Barclaycard Portuguese business and of Banco Popular's credit and debit card business: Vieira de Almeida & Associados; Clifford Chance; PLMJ; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Linklaters

> Baring Private Equity acquisition of a stake in Cath Kidston: Weil, Gotshal & Manges

> BC Partners Ltd and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board's acquisition of the Keter Group from the Sagol family: Weil, Gotshal & Manges; White & Case; Loyens & Loeff; Van Doorne; EY; PwC; Linklaters; ATOZ Tax Advisers, Taxand Luxembourg

> Danone acquisition of WhiteWave Foods: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Bredin Prat

> Fida's acquisition of Rossana from the Swiss food group Nestlé: DLA Piper; Gianni Origoni Grippo, Cappelli & Partners; Fava & Associati

> JAB & Quadrant acquisition of Keurig Green Mountain: Stibbe

> Luigi Lavazza's acquisition of brand Carte Noire: Clifford Chance; Latham & Watkins

> Teva's acquisition of Allergan Generics: Avellum; White & Case; Latham & Watkins; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Matheson

> Eni's non-dilutive equity-linked bonds offer: Clifford Chance

> IPO of Basic-Fit: Stibbe; Allen & Overy; Sullivan & Cromwell; NautaDutilh; Shearman & Sterling; Rutgers & Posch

> IPO of Expedia's Trivago: Stibbe; Latham & Watkins; NautaDutilh; Noerr LP; Goodwin Procter; Linklaters

> SBOLT securitisation and EIB funding: Matheson; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Purrington Moody Weil; Linklaters; Simmons & Simmons; Allen & Overy

> Share capital increase of Banco Popular Español: Uría Menéndez; Davis Polk & Wardwell

> The Portuguese Republic's issuance of treasury bonds: Vieira de Almeida & Associados; PLMJ

> Bain Capital sale of Blackhawk to Frank's: Stibbe; Rope & Gray; Baker McKenzie

> EDF's acquisition of Areva's nuclear reactor business: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Bredin Prat; De Pardieu Brocas Maffei; Darrois Villey

> Issue of bonds by Galp Energia: Boston Consulting Group; Vieira de Almeida & Associados

> Macquarie Capial's acquisition of a 50% interest in 573MW Race Bank offshore wind farm from Dong Energy: Slaughter and May; Linklaters; Allen & Overy

> Premier Oil's acquisition of E.on's UK North Seas oil and gas assets: Slaughter and May; Herbert Smith Freehills

> Royal Dutch Shell takeover of BG Group (SME); Slaughter and May; De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Cravath Swaine & Moore; Shell legal and tax teams

> Banco Santander's acquisition of a 50% stake in Santander Asset Management from Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic: Slaughter and May; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Uría Menéndez

> MasterCard's acquisition of a controlling stake in VocaLink: Slaughter and May, Davis Polk & Wardwell

> The acquisition of LeasePlan by a consortium of investors: Allen & Overy; De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Linklaters; Loyens & Loeff

> The transfer of the Barclaycard Portuguese business and of Banco Popular's credit and debit card business: Vieira de Almeida & Associados; Clifford Chance; PLMJ; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Linklaters

> Merger of the Elephant & Castle and "East Village" residential projects: Simmons & Simmons, PwC, Olswang, Jones Day, Mishcon de Reya, Herbert Smith Freehills

> De-merger of the joint venture between PSP and Grupo Isolux Corsán: Uría Menéndez, Linklaters, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

> Froneri Joint Venture (R&R and Nestlé ice-cream joint venture): Vieira de Almeida & Associados, Linklaters, Allen & Overy

> Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquisition of the Keter Group: Weil, Gotshal & Manges; EY; Linklaters; White & Case

> ASML acquires Hermes Microvision: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Goldman Sachs; Credit Suisse

> Global sale of part of Allergan's business to Teva: Avellum; White & Case; Latham & Watkins; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Matheson

> Metrovacesa and Merlin Properties merger to form Banco Santander: Uría Menéndez; Goldman Sachs Group; Morgan Stanley

> The Carlyle Group acquires Innovation Group: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; HSBC; Barclays Capital; Deloitte; Linklaters; ERM; Marsh; Slaughter and May

> Filming transactions involving Northbull Investment: Jurimex

> ITV on the sale of UTV Ireland to Virgin Media: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Slaughter and May; Matheson

> Joop van den Ende's sale of majority stake in Stage Entertainment to CVC Capital Partners: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

> Refinancing and restructuring of Hibu Group and its subsidiaries: Slaughter and May; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Walkers

> Systems Corporation: Stibbe; Paul Hastings; Seyfarth Shaw; Latham & Watkins and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

> Advent International acquisition of Brammer: Weil, Gotshal & Manges; White & Case; KPMG.

> American Securities acquisition of Chromaflo Technologies from Arsenal Capital Partners and Nordic Capital: Taxand Netherlands; Alvarez & Marsal Taxand; Loyens & Loeff

> Banca IFIS's acquisition of GE Capital Interbanca Group: BonelliErede; Slaughter and May

> Brookfield's acquisition of GL Europe RE Holdings S.à r.l from Avenue Capital: Simmons & Simmons; Kirkland & Ellis; Berwin Leighton Paisner; PwC; Jones Lang LaSalle

> Goldman Sachs acquisition of Continental Bakeries: Stibbe; Sullivan & Cromwell; Gleiss Lutz; Hammarskiöld; Herbert Smith Freehills; Lexence; NautaDutilh and Hengeler Mueller

> HAL sells AudioNova to Sonova: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Homburger; EY

> Acquisition of 17 hotels by Fonciere des Murs: Uría Menéndez; Garrigues Spain

> Biancamano's restructuring of financial indebtedness within the context of a pre-bankruptcy composition with creditors proceedings under the Italian bankruptcy law: BonelliErede

> Office Depot's sale of its European business to the Aurelius Group: Stibbe; Eversheds; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Bird & Bird.

> Paragon Offshore PLC Chapter 11/Restructuring: Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Arnold Porter and Hogan Lovells

> Rabobank's implementation of new governance, including a merger of 107 Rabobank entities: De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

> Ardian's acquisition of the Envision Pharma group: Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; EY; Weil, Gotshal & Manges

> ASML acquisition of Hermes Microvision (Taiwan): De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

> Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and BC Partners sale of 70% stake in Suddenlink to Altice and acquisition of a 30% stake in Cablevision: Latham & Watkins; PwC; Sullivan & Cromwell; Mintz Levin Cohn Glovsky and Popeo; Richards Layton & Finger; De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek; Covington & Burling; Mayer Brown; Ropes & Gray

> Management of Raet, investment by HgCapital: Stibbe; Van Doorne; White & Case; Deloitte; Clifford Chance

> Qorvo acquisition Green Peak Technologies: Stibbe; Womble Carlyle; Jones Day

> United Internet's acquisition of Strato from Deutsche Telekom: Hengeler Mueller

> Vonage Holdings Corp's acquisition of Nexmo: Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Goodwin Procter; Taylor Wessing

> AstraZeneca

> Syngenta International

> Zalando

> Baker McKenzie

> Deloitte Denmark

> RFF & Associados

> Vieira de Almeida & Associados

> Weil, Gotshal & Manges

> Baker McKenzie

> Best Friends Tax Network

> KPMG Abogados

> Radu si Asociatii (the correspondent law firm of EY Romania)

> RFF & Associados

> Tremonti Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati

> Weil, Gotshal & Manges

> Baker McKenzie

> Plesner

> Baker McKenzie

> EY

> Baker McKenzie

> Best Friends Tax Network

> EY