Nine companies have been nominated in the three in-house categories for International Tax Review's European Tax Awards, which will be presented at a dinner in London in May.
The nominees for the in-house award for direct tax come from ports (APM Terminals), retail (Asos), pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca), professional services (Bird & Bird) and property (British Land).
Asos is also one of two nominees for the indirect tax award, along with Rio Tinto, the natural resources and mining leader. The companies nominated for the transfer pricing award are FCC, a Spanish construction and service group, Nissan, the vehicle manufacturer, and the RELX Group (formerly Reed Elsevier), the Anglo-Dutch publisher.
The European Tax Awards have taken place annually since 2005 and seek to recognise the leading international tax professionals from around Europe. Deloitte has been been nominated in 21 of the 27 national tax firm of the year categories and has earned the same number of nominations for the national transfer pricing awards.
Aside from the national awards, there are also regional prizes for European firm of the year in tax, transfer pricing, indirect tax and tax disputes, as well as deal categories covering the best work in 11 practice areas and industry sectors such as capital markets, M&A, financial services and banking.
Other firms with multiple nominations include Baker & McKenzie; the Best Friends Network of Bredin Prat, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, De Brauw Blackstone, Hengeler Mueller, Slaughter and May and Uria Menendez; EY; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Taxand.
The awards dinner will be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, 86-90 Park Lane, London, W1K 7TN on Thursday May 21 2015. If you would like to attend, please contact Andrew Tappin (atappin@euromoneyplc.com and +44 207 779 8661).
While every effort has been made to shortlist every firm that worked on any of the nominated deals, if your firm was omitted, please contact Ralph Cunningham (rcunningham@euromoneyplc.com and +44 207 779 8308) as soon as possible.
EUROPEAN TAX AWARDS 2015
NATIONAL TAX AND TRANSFER PRICING FIRMS OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTS
Firms made submissions for work done between January 1 2014 and December 31 2014.
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?)
Complexity (Did the matter address tax issues that were out of the ordinary and what ingenuity did the firm show to solve them?)
Austria Tax Firm of the Year
BPV Huegel
Deloitte
DLA Piper
TJP
Wolf Theiss
Austria Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
BPV Huegel
Deloitte
Leitner Leitner
Baltic States Tax Firm of the Year
Deloitte
Raidla Lejins & Norcous
Sorainen
Varul
Baltic States Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
PwC
Sorainen
Belgium Tax Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Liedekerke
Linklaters
Mayer Brown
Belgium Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
Liedekerke
Mayer Brown
Central European Tax Firm of the Year
Deloitte
Mazars
Taxhouse, Taxand Romania
White & Case
Central European Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
Mazars
Tax House, Taxand Romania
Transfer Pricing Services
Cyprus Tax Firm of the Year
Andreas Neocleous & Co
Deloitte
Eurofast Taxand Cyprus
Denmark Tax Firm of the Year
Bruun & Hjejle
EY
Plesner
Denmark Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
EY
Plesner
Finland Tax Firm of the Year
Alder & Sound
Borenius, Taxand Finland
Deloitte
EY
Roschier
Finland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Alder & Sound
Borenius, Taxand Finland
Deloitte
EY
France Tax Firm of the Year
Arsene, Taxand France
Baker & McKenzie
Bredin Prat
DLA Piper
EY
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Linklaters
Mayer Brown
Taj
France Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Arsene, Taxand France
EY
Mayer Brown
Taj
Germany Tax Firm of the Year
Allen & Overy
DLA Piper
Flick Gocke Schaumburg
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Hengeler Mueller
Hogan Lovells
Linklaters
Morrison & Foerster
Norton Rose Fulbright
Oppenhoff & Partner
PwC
Germany Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
Flicke Gocke Schaumburg
PwC
Oppenhoff & Partner
WTS
Greece Tax Firm of the Year
Deloitte
EY
Koutalidis
Greece Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
EY
Hungary Tax Firm of the Year
Deloitte
DLA Piper Horváth & Partners
EY
Lakatos, Koves and Partners
Hungary Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
Taxperience Tandax
Ireland Tax Firm of the Year
A&L Goodbody
Arthur Cox
Deloitte
Maples & Calder
Matheson
William Fry Tax Advisors, Taxand Ireland
Ireland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
EY
Matheson
William Fry Tax Advisors, Taxand Ireland
Italy Tax Firm of the Year
Allen & Overy
Baker & McKenzie
Bonelli Erede Pappalardo
Chiomenti
Clifford Chance
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Hogan Lovells
Legance
Valente Associati GEB Partners
Italy Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Bonelli Erede Pappalardo
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
Legance
Maisto e Associati
Valente Associati GEB Partners
Luxembourg Tax Firm of the Year
Allen & Overy
Arendt & Medernach
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
Van Campen Liem
Luxembourg Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Alter Domus TP
Deloitte
PwC
Malta Tax Firm of the Year
Deloitte
Avanzia Taxand, Taxand Malta
Netherlands Tax Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
DLA Piper
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Stibbe
Taxand Netherlands
Van Campen Liem
Netherlands Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
DLA Piper
Quantera Global
TPA Global
Norway Tax Firm of the Year
Deloitte
DLA Piper
PwC
Norway Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
EY
PwC
Poland Tax Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Crido Taxand, Taxand Poland
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
Hogan Lovells
MDDP
Wardynski & Partners
Poland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Crido Taxand, Taxand Poland
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
MDDP
Portugal Tax Firm of the Year
Baker Tilly
EY
Garrigues, Taxand Portugal
Linklaters
PwC
RFF & Associados
Uria Menendez - Proenca de Carvalho
Vieira de Almeida
Portugal Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Baker Tilly
EY
Grant Thornton
PwC
Russia Tax Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
EY
Goltsblat BLP
KPMG
Pepeliaev Group, Taxand Russia
PwC
Russia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
EY
KPMG
Pepeliaev Group, Taxand Russia
PwC
South Africa Tax Firm of the Year
ENSafrica, Taxand South Africa
EY
Norton Rose Fulbright
South Africa Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
ENSafrica, Taxand South Africa
EY
Spain Tax Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
Garrigues, Taxand Spain
Hogan Lovells
KPMG
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Simmons & Simmons
Uria Menendez
Spain Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
EY
Garrigues, Taxand Spain
Sweden Tax Firm of the Year
Deloitte
EY
KPMG
Roschier
Sweden Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
EY
KPMG
Skeppsbron Skatt, Taxand Sweden
Switzerland Tax Firm of the Year
ADB Altorfer Duss Beilstein
Deloitte
Lenz & Staehelin
Tax Partner, Taxand Switzerland
Switzerland Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Deloitte
Questro International
Tax Expert International
Turkey Tax Firm of the Year
Gide Loyrette Nouel
Mazars Denge
Pekin & Pekin
Turkey Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
PwC
WTS Turkey
UK Tax Firm of the Year
Allen & Overy
Baker & McKenzie
DLA Piper
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Hogan Lovells
Pinsent Masons
Shearman & Sterling
Simmons & Simmons
Slaughter and May
Weil Gotshal & Manges
White & Case
UK Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
EY
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Grant Thornton
Ukraine Tax Firm of the Year
Aequo
Avellum Partners
Deloitte
DLA Piper
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev and Partners Ukraine, Taxand Ukraine
EY
KPMG
Sayenko Kharenko
Ukraine Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year
Avellum
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EUCON
EY
KPMG
PwC
EUROPEAN REGIONAL AWARDS SHORTLISTS
European Tax Firm of the Year
Allen & Overy
Baker & McKenzie
Best Friends Tax Network
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Hogan Lovells
Linklaters
Taxand
Vieira de Almeida
White & Case
European Tax Disputes Firm of the Year
Arntzen de Besche
Baker & McKenzie
Best Friends Tax Network
DLA Piper
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Joseph Hage Aaronson
Plesner
PwC Legal
Taxand
Vieira de Almeida
Weil Gotshal & Manges
European Indirect Tax Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Deloitte
DLA Piper
EY
PwC
Vieira de Almeida
Weil Gotshal & Manges
European Tax Compliance & Reporting Firm of the Year
EY
Taxand
WTS Klient
European In-House Team of the Year - Direct Tax
APM Terminals
Asos
AstraZeneca
Bird & Bird
British Land
European In-House Team of the Year - Indirect Tax
Asos
Rio Tinto
European In-House Team of the Year - Transfer Pricing
FCC
Nissan
RELX Group (formerly Reed Elsevier)
European Banking Tax Deal of the Year
Banque PSA Finance partnership with Banco Santander - Best Friends Network; Linklaters
FROB / N+1 - Project Hercules - Baker & McKenzie
Raiffeisen Bank securitisation - DLA Piper; Matheson
European Capital Markets Tax Deal of the Year
Avenue Capital securitisation of student accommodation assets - Simmons & Simmons
Euronext IPO - Stibbe; Linklaters; PLMJ; Shearman & Sterling
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) St Paul's CLO IV Ltd - A&L Goodbody; Allen & Overy; Ashurst
Spin-off of the BUWOG Group - bpv Huegel; Clifford Chance
Telefonica issuances - Linklaters; Uria Menendez
UniCredit hybrid bond Additional Tier 1 financing - Clifford Chance
Volution Group's IPO - Weil Gotshal & Manges
Zoopla IPO - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Slaughter and May
European Consumer Products Tax Deal of the Year
GSK/Novartis transactions - Avellum Partners; Bonelli Erede Pappalardo; EY; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Slaughter and May;
Heidelberg Cement's disposal of Hanson Building Products - EY
Mylan's inversion acquisition of Abbott's non-US generic drugs business - Baker & McKenzie, Matheson, Stibbe
Powerflute acquisition of Corenso - EY; Hannes Snellman
Spectrum Brands's acquisition of Procter & Gamble's European pet food business - Taxand
European M&A Tax Deal of the Year
Acquisition and refinancing of Helios-Group - bpv Huegel
Altice's acquisition of SFR - Mayer Brown
Hapag Lloyd and CSAV merger - PwC Germany
HgCapital’s acquisitions of Leasedrive and Zeniths - Osborne Clark; Weil Gotshal & Manges
Homair Vacances acquisition of Eurocamp - Mayer Brown; Taylor Wessing
NGC Denmark reverse cross-border merger - Plesner
Medtronic's acquisition of Covidien and related corporate inversion - A&L Goodbody; Arthur Cox; Matheson
Medtronic's acquisition of Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation - Eversheds; Taxand Netherlands
European Financial Services Tax Deal of the Year
ICBC's acquisition of a majority stake in Standard Bank - White & Case
Novo Banco / Banco Espirito Santo - Deloitte; Vieira de Almeida
Securitisation of trade receivables for Flextronics International Poland - Hogan Lovells
European Energy Tax Deal of the Year
Divestment of Shell Italian retail business - Clifford Chance; Hogan Lovells
Geopetrol's acquisition of oilfields from Total - Baker & McKenzie
NextEnergy's IPO and share issue - PwC UK; Simmons & Simmons
Nyrstar's strategic financing - Baker & McKenzie
Project Eureka - Bonelli Erede Pappalardo
European Media & Entertainment Tax Deal of the Year
Discovery Communications's acquisition of All3Media - DLA Piper; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Shearman & Sterling
Sale of Sky Deutschland to BSkyB - Morrison & Foerster
Ziggo's exchange and tender offer for existing notes in connection with Liberty Global's bid for Ziggo - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Stibbe
European Private Equity Tax Deal of the Year
Flint Group acquisition - EY; Milbank
General Atlantic's acquisition of Meteo Group - Taylor Wessing; Weil Gotshal & Manges
Montagu's acquisition of Rexam Healthcare Devices and Prescription Retail business from Rexam - Allen & Overy; Weil Gotshal & Manges
Sale of minority stake in Avast Software to CVC Capital Partners - White & Case
European Tax Restructuring Deal of the Year
AFK Sistema's acquisition and restructuring of Investlesprom - KPMG Russia
Alitalia / Etihad commercial partnership and Etihad's acquisition of minority shareholding of Alitalia - Bonelli Erede Pappalardo; Chiomenti, DLA Piper, PwC
Enel-Endesa corporate restructuring - Cuatrecasas; Shearman & Sterling; Uria Menendez
New World Resources's cross-border balance sheet restructuring - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; White & Case
Vivarte's debt and share capital restructuring - Mayer Brown; Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Warsaw Spire financing and restructuring - Baker & McKenzie
European Joint Venture Tax Deal of the Year
British Land JV with GIC at Broadgate - Clifford Chance; King & Wood Mallesons; Simmons & Simmons
CDP / Gas Connect Austria - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Wolf Theiss
Discovery Communications's acquisition of a controlling interest in Eurosport - Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier; DLA Piper; PwC
Gores Group's joint venture with Premier Foods over Hovis - Weil Gotshal & Manges; Slaughter and May
Global JV between Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery and Siemens - Hogan Lovells; Linklaters
Tornier / Wright Medical Group JV - Baker & McKenzie; Stibbe
European Telecommunications and Technology Tax Deal of the Year
Providence Equity Partners' investment in Helios Towers Africa - Vinson & Elkins; Weil Gotshal & Manges
RDIF digital inequality project - KPMG Russia
Sale of Ono to Vodafone - DLA Piper; Garrigues, Taxand Spain; Weil Gotshal & Manges
Sale of Telefonica O2 Ireland to Hutchison Whampoa Group - A&L Goodbody; Matheson
Telecity Group's acquisition of Plix - Hogan Lovells
ECJ Firm of the Year - Direct Tax
Deloitte; KPMG: PwC - SCA Group Holding / MSA International
Field Tax Chambers; Gray's Inn Tax Chambers; EY - Felixstowe Dock
Garrigues, Taxand Spain; Latham & Watkins - Autogrill / Santander
Heidelbach & Krolik - Van Caster
KPMG Poland - Emerging Markets Series of DFA Investment Trust Company
Meilicke Hoffman - Kronos
Plesner- Nordea Bank
ECJ Firm of the Year - Indirect Tax
Aleksandra Bal - X
Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati; PwC - Hervis Sport
Duncea,Stefanescu & Associates; Mazars - E.ON
Essex Court Chambers; KPMG - GMAC
Plesner - ATP Pension Services
US Law Firm in Europe
Baker & McKenzie
DLA Piper
Mayer Brown
Morrison & Foerster
Shearman & Sterling
Weil Gotshal & Manges
White & Case
Best Newcomer
Aequo
Avellum Partners
Joseph Hage Aaronson
KC Legal
Van Campen Liem
WTS Klient
European Tax Policy Firm of the Year
Baker & McKenzie
Best Friends Tax Network
Deloitte
EY
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Linklaters
Quantera Global
European Tax Innovator of the Year
Alder & Sound
Deloitte
eBiz Answers
KPMG Ukraine
European Tax Technology Firm of the Year
Alder & Sound
eBiz Answers
KPMG Ukraine
Meridian Global Services