Barend F. van Nievelt, International Business lawyer/Legal Coach

(A more detailed resume is available on request.)

Following his graduation from Leiden University where he majored in civil law, Van Nievelt established himself as an attorney in Rotterdam, practicing international commercial law at the offices of Loeff Claeys Verbeke .

Having gained practical experience in the legal profession, Barend van Nievelt began his employment at the Cebeco-Handelsraad Groep , an agrifood cooperative. As a corporate lawyer, he was actively involved in numerous acquisitions both within the Netherlands and abroad. He was also increasingly involved in the internationalization of subsidiaries. In this regard, the emphasis was on the transfer of Dutch agrifood technology (e.g., poultry, food processing, cultivation under glass, mushroom culture). As a member of ad hoc management teams, he participated in shaping a variety of joint venture, licensing, agency and distribution arrangements in Europe, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and the Middle and Far East .

During his six years of employment with Cebeco-Handelsraad, he gained considerable international experience acting as secretary for a North American/European conglomerate of large agricultural cooperatives located in the Netherlands Antilles. In this capacity, he worked closely and at the CEO level with companies such as Archer Daniels Midland, Land O' Lakes, and Goldkist and Toepfer .

He gained experience in management at HVA-Holding BV, a subsidiary of Cebeco-Handelsraad, and in the selling of going concerns when involved in the sale of a large poultry breeding company in the U.S. for the RaboBank of New York .

Taking advantage of the network of companies and contacts that he had previously established, Van Nievelt continued his consulting practice in the agrifood sector by founding his own network organization known as GreenTech in 1991. He collaborated with affiliated offices in India, Russia, France and the U.S. in regard to the transfer of agrifood technology for clients located both within the Netherlands and abroad.

From 1993 till 1996 Van Nievelt has been intensively involved in trust management within the petrochemical sector for a number of clients (trading, engineering & construction) located in the CIS. As a result of these activities, he has gained experience in the world of international trusts and banking and has collaborated with Mees Pierson in oil and gas projects in the CIS and Middle East.

In 1998 Van Nievelt was assigned to set up a legal department for the Vanenburg Business Systems Group ("VBS")(formerly known as Baan Business Systems Group) engaged in the worldwide distribution and implementation of ERP software. As legal counsel he was involved at the CEO level in the separation between the operations of Baan Company and VBS. He actively managed the legal processes within the holding and in all of the 30 subsidiaries in the group and accepted a number of active directorships in France, Italy, Belgium and Spain. In 1999 Van Nievelt developed and managed a Y2K Compliancy project covering the entire VBS customer install base worldwide. He also monitored ICC arbitration proceedings, organized various buy-outs of minority shareholders and managed wind downs of subsidiaries abroad.

Since 2000 Van Nievelt has broadened his client base sector wise.

Despite the slowing down IT sector Van Nievelt continued to assist and coach a number of industrial software (e.g. Cedron , Neteconomy, Xytek ) and hardware ( Tulip Computers ) in their international expansion or wind down operations.

In the construction sector Van Nievelt has been engaged as from 2001 by his launching client as legal advisor in several projects for the production of MDF out of agricultural waste (e.g straw) in China and the Middle East ( Panel Board Holding ).

An initial small assignment in the TV production sector resulted in an interim position as legal counsel to an Amsterdam based TV producer ( CCCP ) in 2004.  

From 2007 to date Van Nievelt has been mainly active as advisor and coach of a considerable number of companies that are connected to Swilion Business Development . Among these companies is the WWT group specializing in the development of innovative technologies for and the manufacture/assembly and marketing of high tech products for the renewable water and energy sector ( Wind & Water Technologie, Home Energy, Dutch Rainmaker ).

Since April 2010 Van Nievelt is being hired as freelance Legal Counsel Europe/Asia by A. Schulman, Inc. (NASDAQ/plastic compounds) for the legal management of special projects (acquisitions, joint-ventures, production start-ups) in the Middle East, Russia and India.

As from April 2011 Van Nievelt has been admitted to the Amsterdam Bar Association and has joined SwitchLegal, attorneys-at-law where he is practicing international business law as an additional service to LSI clients.

Major commercial achievements throughout his entire career have been the licensing of a recycling process for ceiling tiles in the construction sector (1990), his input in the launch of the manufacturing and distribution of recyclable substrate for the use in greenhouses and golf courses ( FytoFoam )(1996) and the introduction of Swedish salmonella-free fresh poultry products with Albert Heijn in collaboration with Marnic Benelux BV (1997).