As competition law increasingly influences critical aspects of corporate and commercial strategy, first-class competition advice is vital for doing business globally.
Our dedicated competition lawyers work across Europe, the US, South America and the developing competition regimes of Asia. Clients come to us for expert, commercial advice on their most complex national, EU and global antitrust matters.
The multi-national and multi-lingual nature of our team allows us to understand the national policy concerns that shape global competition policy and to maintain strong relationships with authorities and enforcement agencies across the globe. We regard a deep understanding of our clients’ business and strategy as essential to successfully defending their interests. Our ability to quickly get to grips with new businesses is a key strength.
Linklaters’ unrivalled competition law expertise covers merger control, cartels and dawn raids, competition litigation, market and sector investigations, abuse of dominance, state aid, public procurement and economic or utilities regulation. Our eLearning tools also offer an economic and effective way of training lawyers and business managers on competition law issues.
Recent transactions include advising
- Rio Tinto on the global antitrust proceedings in connection with its defence of the USD170bn hostile takeover bid by BHP Billiton plc, at the time of its announcement the second largest takeover bid in history and subject to detailed antitrust scrutiny around the globe including in the EU, Australia, South Africa, Canada, the US, Japan, Korea and China
- a participant in the global marine hoses cartel involving investigations around the world and unprecedented co-operation between competition authorities globally including the European Commission, the US Department of Justice, the UK Office of Fair Trading and the Japanese Fair Trade Commission
- leading market players in relation to the current European Commission inquiries into the pharmaceutical and energy sectors
- twelve major financial institutions across Europe on state aid issues arising from the financial crisis including bank rescues, restructuring and recapitalisation
