Our European and UK antitrust practice provides premium competition law services, particularly at the intersection of antitrust, regulatory and intellectual property law. Assembling some of the most distinguished European competition practitioners in Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt and London, our EU competition practice is a leader in the field. Our integrated team advises on complex mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as cooperation and licensing transactions. We defend clients in cartel and abuse of dominance investigations by antitrust authorities, such as those involving alleged excessive pricing or pay-for-delay issues. Additionally, we advise on optimizing distribution channels to protect trade secrets and market share, cross-border transfer of goods, defense against parallel imports and counterfeit products, and litigate complex antitrust cases, including antitrust damages cases.

We assist clients with EU merger clearance proceedings, European Commission (EC) antitrust and competition investigations, EU Member State aid issues, global trade and investment policy disputes, EU regulatory issues, corporate transactions, and cross-border crisis management and strategic response. We litigate in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, EU Member State courts (particularly in Belgium and Germany but also in France and the Netherlands) and the UK courts.

United Kingdom
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Our lawyers in the United Kingdom advise on all aspects of UK and EU competition law, including merger notifications, cartel immunity/leniency applications and damages actions. In the United Kingdom, we represent clients before the Competition and Markets Authority and in litigation before the High Court, the Competition Appeals Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. We have notable experience in handling merger procedures before the Competition and Markets Authority, representing both transaction parties and third parties, and in cartel damages litigation.
Germany
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Our lawyers in Berlin and Frankfurt offer a wide range of services in European and German competition law. The roots of our German antitrust practice date back to the enactment of the German Antitrust Code in the 1950s, when Karlheinz Quack began a practice that shaped German antitrust law over the following decades. Today, our German lawyers represent clients in merger control matters before the Federal Cartel Office, both as notifying and third parties, and before the Ministry of Economics, from which we have secured approvals in some of the most complex German merger control cases. Additionally, we frequently assist our clients with multinational merger control filings both within and outside Europe and represent clients in litigation arising from merger proceedings.

In addition to our merger control work, we address the entire range of German cartel/antitrust law issues before German regulators and courts. On cartel and abusive conduct matters, we have extensive experience in developing and, where necessary, obtaining approval for cooperative arrangements between companies. Moreover, we represent our clients in antitrust investigations and resulting litigation and have been involved on their behalf in some of the Federal Cartel Office’s largest investigations. We also regularly represent our clients in private antitrust litigation.

Our German and international clients turn to us for complex, high-profile regulatory matters that involve both antitrust rules and sector-specific regulation, as well as additional legislative and policy issues. We have represented Germany’s leading players in the air transport, railway, telecommunications and energy industries in major transactions and investigations. Additionally, we regularly advise and represent major domestic and multinational companies in sectors such as waste treatment, logistics, finance, travel, media, shipbuilding, engineering, chemicals, and wholesale and retail.
Brussels
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Our Brussels team has extensive experience in all facets of EU competition law, including mergers before the European Commission, worldwide merger control filings, cartel investigations (in Europe and worldwide), abuse of monopoly power and Member State aid cases. We also regularly provide transactional advice, supporting joint ventures and distribution systems. We often advise on multinational merger control filings both within and outside Europe and represent clients in litigation arising from merger proceedings.

Our team has helped clients in some of the largest and most complex mergers of recent years, guiding them through EU merger control, including Phase 1 and Phase 2 cases with remedies, and other challenges requiring policy insight, legislative advocacy and government affairs experience. We have handled hundreds of procedures, ranging from cartel defense work to other alleged infringements and complaints. We have successfully represented third parties seeking to oppose mergers or challenge monopolies and exclusionary conduct, through both EC proceedings and litigation. We have also assisted clients with State aid procedures. Our team operates fluently in English, French, Dutch, German and Spanish, and several members of the group speak other European languages.