Competition

Our team is regarded by corporates, regulators and peers as one of the leading global competition practices.

With over 150 dedicated competition lawyers, including 31 partners working across the world, we embrace the continued globalisation of competition law and policy. Our core team is strengthened by strategic alliances with top-tier law firms in India, Africa, South-East Asia and Australia. We strive to nurture the emerging generation of global antitrust lawyers and enforcers.

Our clients turn to us time and again to advise on their most strategic global, EU and national competition matters, where a deep understanding of their businesses and strategies is essential.

Specifically, what sets us apart is:

  • our track record of success in dealing effectively and innovatively with complex matters
  • our ability to access and talk easily with decision-makers
  • belonging to a broader, truly integrated global team
Recent client successes include:
  • Advising Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in relation to its £46bn recommended offer for Shire plc, the largest ever outbound M&A deal by a Japanese company
  • Advising Linde on its US$74 billion merger with Praxair
  • Advising a client in relation to the automotive parts investigations, one of the largest sector wide investigations ever conducted, and in relation to follow-on damages claims in a number of jurisdictions
  • Advising E.ON on its planned exchange of assets with RWE Aktiengesellschaft
  • Advising KME AG on its acquisition of Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing GmbH

  • Acting for SABMiller in relation to the competition law aspects of the €101 billion tie-up with brewers Anheuser-Busch InBev, creating one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies
  • Acting for Sanofi in relation to the global coordination of the €22 billion swap of its Animal Health business for Boehringer’s Consumer Healthcare business
  • Advising clients in relation to the European Commission’s investigations into alleged abuses of dominance by Google
  • Defending Visa in a large number of actions before the UK courts brought by major retailers seeking damages concerning multilateral interchange fees
  • Representing an online shopping search engine in its claim against Google, seeking damages in respect of alleged abuses of dominance in online searches and search advertising
  • Acting for Intel on its acquisition of Altera (Intel’s largest acquisition to date)
  • Acting for Novartis on the acquisition of GSK’s oncology business and interrelated transactions
  • Acting for clients on multijurisdictional investigations into alleged rate manipulation in the forex, Libor and Euribor markets
  • Acting for a global investment bank in relation to an investigation into alleged anticompetitive practices concerning credit default swaps
  • Advising the Belgian state as well as several corporates in relation to the European Commission’s State aid investigation into Belgian tax rulings, one of the most high-profile State aid cases of recent years