Pitch Best Young M&A Lawyer 2022: Magalie Zindel, Baker McKenzie

Company: Baker McKenzie 
Job Description: Associate 
Age: 28  

What are the specialties of this talent? 
In deciding who should be nominated as Young Talent 2022, there is no doubt within our team (and Firm) that this should be Magalie Zindel.  

Although Magalie has only been working for Baker McKenzie's M&A team since February 2021 (previously working for a different law firm), she has shown great resilience and has quickly become a cornerstone at the Amsterdam office but also at a global level. The following (international) partners could not agree more:  

Mo Almarini (partner corporate M&A and heading the Amsterdam corporate M&A team)  

“Magalie is one of the greatest M&A talents I’ve come across in my professional career. She is intelligent, pragmatic, extremely client-centric, very pro-active and uncompromising in delivering the highest quality possible. Despite her relatively young age she is exceptionally ambitious and I’m certain that her ambition will bring her to even great heights. I feel privileged and proud to have her as part of our team and I look forward to seeing her become the Best Young M&A Lawyer for 2022!”  

John Gustafson (Partner corporate, Baker McKenzie Stockholm) "Magalie is a stellar M&A lawyer and a rock solid asset on any deal. She brilliantly manages complex transactions and consistently delivers top quality advice. She is loved by clients and is always clear and commercial at every turn of a transaction." Justin Hutchinson (Partner corporate, Baker McKenzie London) "In addition to being very responsive and technically excellent, Magalie has a delightfully upbeat attitude which she maintains even in the depths of a busy transaction – a rare combination that is highly valued by clients and colleagues alike."  

The fact that Magalie is a cornerstone in our office is due to the following reasons:  

• she – at a young age – has quickly become a trusted advisor within the M&A team and also for clients. she has the ability to quickly, understand clients' needs and to build strong relationships with clients and colleagues. This also stems from the fact that Magalie has gained extensive experience in the hospitality industry, which is a great asset for Magalie as a lawyer; 
• she shows a great eagerness to learn and receive feedback from the seniors, clients and other advisors that she encounters during projects. In addition, her talent is not unnoticed within the Firm as she is participating in several internal programs, such as RISE (which aims to advance female associates to partner), the inclusion circles (which aims to advance diversity within the EMEA corporate M&A practice group) and the EMEA PE group (which aims to further advance the PE practice and to mentor associates with an interest in PE). Furthermore, she will also take part in the M&A course of Netherlands Venture Capital Organisation (NVP) to learn more about M&A from a non-legal perspective; 
• she shows great assertiveness, eye for detail, in-depth knowledge and a tremendous ambition to close deals, whereby she also is very dedicated to understand the commercial side of the transactions; and 
• above all, she is fun to work with and a great team player.   

Her qualities are reflected in, among others, the following legal matters:  

• Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH) acquires the wholesale business unit of PZEM; 
• Atlas Copco acquires Geveke and LEWA; 
• FSN Capital acquires Trias Productie Holding, OptiGroup, Hygos and BFG Packaging Srl; 
• Kantar (portfolio company Bain Capital) acquires MeMo²; 
• SERO acquires Semecs; – Parcom Capital acquires Group of Butchers from Equistone Partners Europe; 
• APi Group acquires SK FireSafety Group from Apax Partners; 
• Covestro acquires Resins & Functional Materials business from DSM; 
• De Goudse acquires Leidsche Verzekering Maatschappij from Reinsurance Group of America; and 
• De Spoelberch and Innocent acquire stake in Tony' Chocolonely. 

How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers? 
We see Magalie as a "modern, next generation lawyer" which sets a great example for her (future) peers and students. A modern, next generation lawyers, as she has great and outspokenambitions (i.e., moving up the ladder, going on a secondment and becoming the "Best M&A Lawyer of the Year" in a few years' time). She also gives high value to her personal life, as she finds a healthy work life balance very important, she stays well organised and calm in hectic periods, works efficient, is not afraid to take decisions and is very qualified at managing M&A deals but also finds time to spend quality time with friends and family and get some exercise. 

What impact does the talent have within the organization? 
Although Magalie has only joined Baker McKenzie in February 2021 (as mentioned above), she is already very visible within our Firm and has a distinct presence. Not only do the Amsterdam partners and associates know her well, she has also managed to gain a lot of praise and respect from foreign partners and associates, as well as from important clients, in less than two years' time. All of them regard her as the top M&A talent in Amsterdam and beyond.  

In addition, Magalie plays a key role in recruiting new interns and associates to our M&A team. This includes, for example, job interviews, mentoring of interns, coaching associates to manage time, work and quality of deliverables, reviewing the work of associates and explaining the foundations of M&A. As to the latter, Magalie enjoys giving presentations and does so regularly on a variety of legal topics, including giving talks on due diligence and the (effect thereof in the) SPA.  

And last, but not least, she supervises and helps to supervise junior associates within the Corporate M&A group. In this regard, she also assures that the junior associates remain a healthy work life balance. We have asked a few junior associates to describe their working relationship with Magalie:  

Anne van den Dorpel (junior associate corporate M&A, Baker McKenzie Amsterdam):  

"Magalie is an amazing colleague and M&A lawyer, she provides clear guidance and has the patience to explain M&A mechanisms in detail. I have learned a great deal from her and really enjoy working together."  

Max van Velthoven (junior associate corporate M&A, Baker McKenzie Amsterdam)  

"It is a pleasure to work with-and for-Magalie. She always manages expectations extremely well and gives great importance to the work-life balance, which could be taken as an example." 

What impact does the talent have outside the organization? 
Magalie chose Baker McKenzie's M&A team in Amsterdam for a reason. The team is part of the global transaction multinational Baker McKenzie and that fits her (international) ambitions, (including the short term ambition for a secondment to another Baker & McKenzie office). The Amsterdam M&A team is also known in the M&A community as an inclusive and diverse team. As a young woman with Korean roots, this is important to Magalie. Her door is always open to students who want to know more about her experiences and ideas. 

To what extent does the talent make the difference to clients? 
Magalie is extremely dedicated when it comes to managing deals from start to finish. For example, when preparing legal due diligence reports and/or transaction documents, Magalie goes through all phases as if she were writing a book. After gathering all the information and overcoming writer's block (which she won't admit to), the legal due diligence reports and transaction documents are well written and beautiful to read. A fun fact: If you ask her about a detail of a current transaction she's working on, she knows the answer (e.g., the exact amount of outstanding loans). This regularly surprises even those colleagues who are known for their in-depth knowledge (and we have quite a few of those). This knowledge edge makes a big difference to clients and makes her a trusted advisor. This results in clients often contacting Magalie personally for additional questions after the relevant transaction has been completed and she often feels that she is almost part of the client's in-house business team during and after transactions. We have also asked a client and another advisor to describe their working relationship with Magalie during a transaction:  

Head of Legal (large listed pharmaceutical company) "Magalie is of great assistance to our company and her qualities, not only her legal advice but also her social skills and commitment to the relevant projects, make a difference to us as a client. We could not think of a better "young M&A lawyer" of the year 2022".  

Joost van Kessel (corporate finance advisor, WAVE corporate finance) "I have had the pleasure to work with Magalie in several transactions and despite challenging processes, due to complexity and (sometimes crazy) time constraints, Magalie remained positive (with her great smile), always available (also evenings and weekends), accurate and immediate. This attitude makes the difference in getting a deal done!" 

Why does the talent deserve this nomination? 
The above explanation speaks for itself. Magalie is the true example of a next generation lawyer. But nevertheless, to summarize she is a trusted advisor, in-depth legal knowledge, assertive, dedicated and a team player.  

Needless to say, that we believe that she deserves the nomination for Best Young Talent. Magalie has quickly made a name for herself with clients and colleagues. It's taken her little time to convince others that she deserves the nomination for Best Young M&A Lawyer.  

We asked some of the people Magalie works with a lot what makes her special and why she would deserve an M&A Award  

Mo Almarini (partner corporate M&A and heading the Amsterdam corporate M&A team) “As per my previous quote, I think Magalie is one of the greatest M&A talents I’ve come across in my professional career of almost 20 years now. I am especially proud of how fast she was able to onboard in our tremendously large international network. In a very short period of time she has met and gained the trust of many individuals, including her colleagues at Baker McKenzie, her clients and her peers at other law firms and advisory firms. Despite her relatively young age, she has been able to do that because of her exceptional expertise and service to clients and her extraordinary capabilities to connect with people, all as previously described in her nomination. This definitely makes her a standout compared to any other young M&A lawyer I’ve worked with previously. This is why I’m looking forward to seeing her become the Best Young M&A Lawyer for 2022!”  

Rebecca Kuijpers-Zimmerman (legal director corporate M&A, Baker McKenzie Amsterdam) "Magalie is an extremely talented M&A lawyer with a bright future ahead of her. Words that can be used to best describe her are intelligent, driven, great sense of responsibility and team player" 

Any references or recommendations from clients or (colleagues)? 
See above