Merger Control

We advise on the competition and regulatory aspects of all M&A transactions, joint ventures and investments, and deal regularly with the CMA in the UK, the European Commission, and competition authorities throughout the world.

We advise on all types of mergers and acquisitions and other transactions that raise potential competition or regulatory requirements. We are equally adept at providing strategic advice for mergers between competitors who need to address perceived concerns in order to secure clearances, as we are in handling the multi-jurisdictional requirements for large financial investors facing issues that are primarily driven by the scale and complexity of their portfolios.

We regularly co-ordinate merger filings across the globe and act as a focal point to ensure that consistent messages are transmitted to all relevant competition authorities. This includes representing clients before the competition authorities of overseas jurisdictions.

Much of our work involves representing clients (in particular before the European Commission and the CMA in the UK) who are the parties to a potential transaction, and often includes rebutting allegations of the anti-competitive impact of the merger in question in order to secure clearance and / or deal with acceptable undertakings. We also act for those seeking to oppose deals (e.g. customers, competitors and suppliers) who believe the transaction in question will be detrimental to their business or longer-term interests. In either case, a key aspect of our role is formulating and implementing regulatory strategies.