Just Moved!
Céline van Aalst becomes WAD Capital’s new “legal backbone”
Belgian private equity firm, WAD Capital, has appointed former Four & Five partner, Céline van Aalst, as its in-house legal counsel.
After eight years at Four & Five, Céline is going in-house for the first time, and she’s looking forward to it. “WAD Capital spoke to me because of the specific model; they’re working to solve succession problems for SMEs by providing executives with the necessary guidance and funds,” she says in a statement.
Additionally, the role itself was appealing. “It’s really diverse, ranging from compliance matters to agreements with CEOs-in-residence, as well as working on transactions,” Céline shares.
“You really get to be in the room for all conversations, throughout the whole process – even if they’re not fully legal – while as an external counsel you kind of go in and out of the deal at specific points.”
In the short term, she plans to map out the areas where the business and legal meet, structure the legal process – ranging from fund compliance, legal review, due diligence, deal structuring, etc. – and optimise it as much as possible. “In the long term, I want to be a legal partner at the table and just be part of the transactions from the first conversation till closing, and afterwards be part of the portfolio journey as much as possible,” Céline explains.
“My past working with SMEs and startups means I’m used to answering a broad range of questions and juggling a lot of topics at the same time,” she points out, adding that this will come in handy in the new role.
A decade of dealmaking expertise
While this is her first time working in-house, Céline brings a decade of experience structuring M&A, venture capital and complex corporate transactions for entrepreneurs, investors and boards across the Belgian and cross-border SME markets, with particular depth in shareholder agreements and the legal architecture underpinning growth and succession planning.
She started her career as an associate at Lige Advocaten in September 2016 and joined Four & Five two years later. In 2019, Céline was promoted to senior associate and in 2023, she became managing associate.
Her most recent role prior to joining WAD Capital was as a partner at Four & Five.
Céline obtained a master’s degree in law from Ghent University in 2016 and an advanced master's degree in corporate law from KU Leuven in 2021, graduating cum laude in both.
With her combination of transactional depth and corporate governance experience, Céline is well-positioned to support WAD Capital’s deal teams, portfolio companies and CIR as the firm executes its SME investment strategy.
