Antitrust & Foreign Investment
Our truly integrated global antitrust and foreign investment group provides market-leading legal expertise across the spectrum of antitrust and foreign investment matters, wherever our clients do business
You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.
Accessibility tools
- Client Services
- Antitrust & Foreign Investment
Antitrust & Foreign Investment
Linklaters’ antitrust & foreign investment team is one of the world’s leading antitrust law practices.
With 32 partners and over 120 dedicated lawyers, we help clients successfully navigate fast-evolving competition and foreign investment laws across the globe. Our approach is to combine a deep understanding of clients’ businesses and strategies with our know-how of the regulatory landscape – and to rely on our credibility with public sector decision-makers. The result is a clear track record of innovation in dealing effectively with complex global, EU and domestic transactional and behavioural matters.
Our seamlessly integrated global team is strengthened by strategic alliances with top-tier law firms in Australia, Africa, India, Middle East and South-East Asia.
Related Client Services
Antitrust Investigations
With our global footprint and on-the-ground experience in multiple jurisdictions our Antitrust & Foreign Investment team support clients through the broad spectrum of challenges that arise before, during and after an investigation into behavioural conduct issues.
Cartels
As a leading global cartel practice, Linklaters' team works with clients to defend their interests in response to an investigation by minimising both the financial risk and potential damage to the clients’ reputation.
Dawn Raids
Linklaters has extensive experience of assisting clients with dawn raids, ensuring a unified and efficient response to regulators across multiple jurisdictions and protecting our clients’ rights in any subsequent cartel or other antitrust investigation.
Economic & Utility Regulation
The team has advised on price controls, market access and liberalisation for utilities companies, as well as on the regulatory issues arising in the context of mergers and acquisitions and financing/restructuring transactions.
Foreign Investment Control
At Linklaters, we have world-leading experience thanks to our dedicated and truly integrated global network. We are continually monitoring developments in this rapidly evolving area in order to remain ahead of the curve. We offer clients a one stop shop for handling merger control and foreign investment review filings: a single, central point of contact, as well as a consistently high level of quality.
Merger and Sector Investigations
Linklaters’ Antitrust & Foreign Investment team is at the forefront of advising clients on dealing effectively with market and sector investigations.
Merger Control
Merger control is critical to the success of any M&A transaction. Linklaters’ truly global team works with clients to devise their global merger control strategy. We combine commercial, legal, economic and often political considerations to maximise the chance of a successful outcome. We offer clients a one stop shop for handling merger control and foreign investment review filings: a single, central point of contact, as well as a consistently high level of quality.
Public procurement
Linklaters has extensive experience of advising on the application of the EU procurement Directives and the implementing regulations adopted in various Member States. We have been involved in many important projects for both private and public sector clients (including national governments), which have required a combination of detailed technical legal expertise, innovative thinking and commercial focus.
State Aid
In this evolving legal environment, companies with no previous (and often no foreseen) exposure to State aid issues are increasingly affected by the rules. Companies increasingly view State aid law as a powerful tool to challenge the legality of fiscal regimes and other State measures which favour their competitors. Our clients gain a competitive advantage from our wealth of experience in handling complex State aid cases.
AdTech
We help our clients to navigate this constantly-evolving landscape, and are currently directly engaged with some of the most significant enforcement in this area, working closely with clients and regulators to tackle the complex problems posed by this fast-paced, data-driven industry.
Client Successes
Linde
Linde: advising as lead strategic counsel on the global antitrust aspects of its $90bn merger of equals with Praxair Inc. to create the world's largest industrial gas company. Our team handled merger control and foreign investment filings in 24 jurisdictions
Air France-KLM
Air France-KLM: advising Air France-KLM in respect of, and ultimately settled, the long-standing air cargo cartel litigation
The Belgian state plus several corporates
The Belgian state plus several corporates: advising 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
Bayer AG
Bayer AG: advising on the $7.6 billion sale of its worldwide animal health business involving 15 merger control notifications and one foreign investment filing. The transaction went to Phase II review in 4 jurisdictions
The Hungarian Government
The Hungarian Government: advising on its Phase II State aid investigation and related public procurement proceedings regarding the Paks II nuclear project, and in its intervention before the General Court of the EU following Austria’s challenge of the European Commission’s State aid decision
Sucocitrico Cutrale
Sucocitrico Cutrale: advising in connection with an alleged cartel involving processors of frozen concentrated orange juice. The cartel gave rise to claims in several jurisdictions around the world and included a high-profile settlement with Brazil’s CADE
Takeda
Takeda: advising on the £46bn acquisition of Shire, which was Japan's largest ever outbound deal. We coordinated merger control filings in more than 15 jurisdictions, including the EU, the US and China
BAE Systems Plc
BAE Systems Plc: advising on its appeal to the General Court of the European Commission’s decision concluding that the group financing exemption provided under the UK’s controlled foreign company rules partly contravened State aid rules
E.On
E.On: advising on the merger control and foreign investment aspects of E.ON’s far-reaching asset swap with RWE including a phase II review cleared subject to remedies in the EU and foreign investment and regulatory filings in seven jurisdictions
Visa
Visa: advising in respect of various actions brought before the English Courts by retailers seeking damages related to the setting and implementation of multilateral interchange fees for the Visa card payment system in Europe including a four-day Supreme Court hearing in January 2020
Jingye Group
Jingye Group: advising the leading Chinese steelmaker, on the merger control, foreign investment and State aid implications of its agreement to acquire the business and certain assets of British Steel
Several clients
Several clients: advising in relation to the European Commission’s investigations into alleged abuses of dominance by Google which resulted in the EC imposing a €2.4bn fine on Google. We represented clients in the European Courts in Google’s subsequent appeal against its fine
Read our Thought Leadership
Learn more about our online products
Learn more about our online products
Key contacts
Close ×
You will need to log in or register to view the content
Linklaters user? Sign In
Close ×
- 01. Your details
- 02. Your organisation details
Register
Your details
* fields are mandatory
Close ×
Reset password
Please enter the email address you used when registering. We will be in touch with details on how to reset your password via this email address.
Close ×
Close ×
Log in
If you were registered to the previous version of our Knowledge Portal, you will need to re-register to access our content.
* mandatory fields