EU/UK Competition

Our EU/UK competition group represents multinationals, conglomerates and global financial institutions across the full spectrum of EU/UK competition matters, including cross-border merger control and foreign direct investment (FDI) regulatory investigations, abuse of dominance and cartel investigations, EU sectoral inquiries, UK market investigations, EU State aid investigations and competition litigation (defendant and claimant).

Possible amendments to the UK merger control regime, such as the introduction of a mandatory and suspensory notification regime applicable to larger mergers, and the UK National Security and Investment Act, amplify the need for merging parties to look to the UK when devising their global merger control filing strategies.

Working seamlessly with our antitrust practices in the United States and China, and firmwide corporate, funds and restructuring practices, our EU and UK lawyers represent clients that are household names in a wide range of industries—including technology, communications, aviation, defence, health care, life sciences, automotive, chemicals, transportation, financial services, digital platforms, retail and energy.

Our team also has in-depth experience litigating competition matters before European and UK courts. Combining our multidisciplinary approach with the resources of a full-service global law firm, our EU/UK Competition team effectively and efficiently:

Represents multinationals and financial institutions in the gamut of EU/UK Competition matters, including:
- Complex cross-border mergers, acquisitions, strategic alliances and joint ventures
- Technology transfer and intellectual property (IP) licensing
- Abuse of dominance and cartel investigations
- Investigations by government agencies and regulators
- Competition law damages claims and disputes
- State aid and restructuring matters.
Ascertains the specifics of how live cases will be reviewed—specifically regarding when the EC will have exclusive jurisdiction and when the CMA will serve as the reviewing body—nearing the end of the transition period.
Assists in preparing companies for parallel merger investigations—the rules of which are expected to diverge to some extent—by the CMA and the EC after the transition.
Advises on large, complicated cross-border transactions and investigations before major global authorities including:
- CMA and Bundeskartellamt (BKartA) (Germany)
- EC, The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) (China), The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) (Brazil), The Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) (Mexico), The Competition Bureau (CCB) (Canada), (The Competition Commission of India) (CCI) (India), The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) (Korea), The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) (Japan), The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (Australia) and The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) (Russia)
- UK sector regulators The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), The Office of Communications (Ofcom), The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat)
- Competition Appeal Tribunal and courts.
Designs and implements global competition law compliance programmes.
Represents third parties and complainants in EU/UK merger and behavioural investigations.

Represents multinationals and financial institutions in the gamut of EU/UK Competition matters, including:
- Complex cross-border mergers, acquisitions, strategic alliances and joint ventures
- Technology transfer and intellectual property (IP) licensing
- Abuse of dominance and cartel investigations
- Investigations by government agencies and regulators
- Competition law damages claims and disputes
- State aid and restructuring matters.
Ascertains the specifics of how live cases will be reviewed—specifically regarding when the EC will have exclusive jurisdiction and when the CMA will serve as the reviewing body—nearing the end of the transition period.
Assists in preparing companies for parallel merger investigations—the rules of which are expected to diverge to some extent—by the CMA and the EC after the transition.
Advises on large, complicated cross-border transactions and investigations before major global authorities including:
- CMA and Bundeskartellamt (BKartA) (Germany)
- EC, The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) (China), The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) (Brazil), The Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) (Mexico), The Competition Bureau (CCB) (Canada), (The Competition Commission of India) (CCI) (India), The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) (Korea), The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) (Japan), The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (Australia) and The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) (Russia)
- UK sector regulators The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), The Office of Communications (Ofcom), The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat)
- Competition Appeal Tribunal and courts.
Designs and implements global competition law compliance programmes.
Represents third parties and complainants in EU/UK merger and behavioural investigations.