Antitrust & Competition

Businesses face a growing challenge navigating antitrust and competition laws around the world as more and more companies operate from more than one jurisdiction, in a dangerous operating climate, which requires sophisticated antitrust counsel, with global capabilities, knowledge of local practices, and comprehensive expertise across the major antitrust disciplines of mergers, cartel and conduct investigations, and litigation.

Effective legal advice in addressing the challenges can mean the difference between capitalizing on a strategic opportunity and risking criminal liability: this is why our clients count on our extensive experience in litigation against governmental authorities or private parties, advising on delicate questions and comprehensive coverage of merger control regimes.

The international nature of our practice has enabled us to develop particular experience in advising on cross-border or international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, licensing and distribution arrangements and criminal investigations. Giambrone has experience in all aspects of global cartel investigations, including global diversity, European Union proceedings, extradition and extraterritorial discovery.

We advise clients worldwide on the complexities of proposed cross-border transactions (mergers, joint ventures) and we offer our clients an integrated worldwide team of competition law experts, providing a coordinated approach to the increasingly global competitive issues facing our clients

Experience

• Trials and Litigation: We regularly represent clients in courts and tribunals throughout the European courts and national courts in cases involving cartels, parallel civil/criminal proceedings, civil class actions and arbitration.
• Mergers/Joint Ventures: We guide clients smoothly through the EU Phase I and Phase II pre-merger processes so that their transactions are completed promptly and efficiently. We have exceptional experience and a good record of success in co-ordinating pre-merger advice and notifying of transactions in several jurisdictions around the world.
• Antitrust Litigation: We have unparalleled experience in defending multinational corporations against antitrust-based challenges. Our experience includes government and private litigation, trials and appeals. Several jurisdictions require pre-merger notification and approval for transactions affecting commerce within their borders. The European Union, its Member States and many other countries including the US have increased dramatically the number and scope of investigations into cartel conduct and allegations of price-fixing. And private damage antitrust litigation — a fixture in the United States — is rapidly increasing in Europe and other jurisdictions due to the recent enactment of the 2014 EU Antitrust Damages Directive
• Government Investigations/International Cartels: Major advances in international cartel enforcement over the last few years have been characterised by a rise in cooperation between competition enforcement agencies around the world, and increased fines for cartel participants. Our global team represents complainants and defendants in complex antitrust investigations, including price-fixing investigations and parallel industry-wide class actions.
• Class Actions: Clients facing antitrust class action lawsuits can turn to our experience in filing or defending these suits and related claims around the world. We are also at the cutting edge of advising multinational clients on the implementation of representative litigation rules in jurisdictions worldwide.
• Merger Litigation: The ability and willingness to litigate is an important element of success in merger transactions. We have substantial experience in litigating before antitrust agencies.

Giambrone’s antitrust lawyers provide forward-looking, business-centric advice and counsel on the full scope of antitrust and competition law issues, including:

• merger clearance
• cartel investigation & litigation
• competition-related litigation
• intellectual property antitrust
• compliance counselling & training program

Our lawyers are at the forefront of the most important issues in antitrust and competition law, including:

• dominant firm conduct
• mergers and acquisitions
• multinational investigations
• joint ventures
• international cartel investigations
• state aid
• private damage actions
• distribution restrictions
• intellectual property licensing and enforcement

Our team, located across London, Milan and Barcelona, includes leading practitioners with years of experience advising on the most complex transactions and cases at EU and national level. Our lawyers have conducted competition damages actions before the national courts, the European Courts of Justice, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and in mediations.

For more information about our Antitrust and Competition integrated corporate practice, please contact: Alessandro Gravante in the competition litigation department (a.gravante@giambronelaw.com).