Charlotte Colin-Dubuisson

Charlotte specialises in EU and French competition law, advising on the full range of competition-related issues with a specific focus on vertical restraints and cartels. She also has significant experience in advising clients on pivotal merger control aspects of M&A transactions, both at French and global levels.

Charlotte has been involved in major antitrust cases before the French Competition Authority and Paris Court of Appeal (including in the petfood, optical retail, yoghurt, poultry and IT distribution) and before the European Commission (in the auto parts sector). She has in-depth knowledge of vertical restraints, with specific experience in advising clients from the setting-up of a distribution network to assisting them in the framework of antitrust investigations by antitrust authorities. She co-leads the firm’s Vertical Steering Committee, which is dedicated to vertical restraints questions within Linklaters’ Antitrust & Foreign Investment Group.

On a standalone basis or in the context of antitrust investigations, Charlotte also regularly assists clients with their compliance programmes, including conducting compliance audits and making full use of eDiscovery and other legal tech tools to expedite processes. She has advised clients in the FMCG, optical retail, automotive, luxury and transport sectors.

Before joining Linklaters in 2011, Charlotte intervened in emblematic resale price maintenance cases before the French Competition Authority and the Paris Court of Appeal in the perfumes and toy sectors as well as French cartel cases in the construction and road signalling sectors.

Work highlights

Charlotte has advised on many market-leading merger control and antitrust matters. These include advising:

Merger Control:

• GrandVision in the context of EssilorLuxottica’s EUR 7.3bn acquisition from Hal Holding, including a Phase II investigation by the European Commission and multiple filings globally
• Silgan on its $900m acquisition Albéa, a competitor in the dispensing systems sector
• Nestlé on its CHF10.2bn divestment of Galderma in the skincare sector to a consortium led by EQT, the creation of a EUR 2.7bn joint venture with its competitor R&R in the industrial ice cream sector leading to a 3:2 in Europe and the divestment of its subsidiary Davigel to a competitor, Brakes (then controlled by Bain Capital), in the Frozen food sector

Antitrust:

• Idemia, G+D and NXP Semiconductors on the antitrust aspects related to the setting-up of their White Label Alliance to create an independent contactless payment standard
• (as a member of a cross-border Linklaters antitrust team) a leading auto parts group to secure immunity from fine in a global cartel investigation before the European Commission
• Nestlé before the Paris Court of Appeal following a EUR 19.2 million fine by the French Competition Authority for vertical restraints in the petfood sector and in the framework of the Poultry and Yogurt cartels in France

Charlotte is an active member of the French Association of Competition Law Practitioners (APDC) and lectures on competition law at Sciences Po Paris and Paris Panthéon Assas.

She often speaks at webinars on competition law, including speaking on recent trends in competition law and digital markets at a webinar organized by Epiq, the legal process outsourcing provider.

Charlotte also regularly writes articles, clients alerts and contributes to the practice LinkingCompetition blog.

Charlotte holds a master’s in law degree from Paris Ouest University, a master’s in European and international business law from Paris Dauphine University and a master of laws from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

She speaks French and English.