| Key EU & Competition Projects |
| Selected EU & Competition Projects
- Advising both a major European utilities group originally based in France and a leading Spanish savings bank on the complex merger control aspects of their 2 billion euro joint public takeover bid over the leading Spanish water supplier, one of the largest and most publicised transactions of 2007 in Spain. - Advising a major European financial institution on the legality and proposed strategies concerning the French system of regulated bank accounts is probably one of the more complex cases that I have handled up-to-date. My advice crystallized in a series of internal documents used by the client to challenge the said system before the Commission (on the grounds that it breached key EC competition and trade rules applied to the financial services sector). As a result, the French Government was referred to the ECJ by the European Commission . - Representing a leading private equity house in two major takeover bids. Both transactions were cleared by the Spanish competition authorities in the first phase. Apparently, the client was particularly satisfied with the filings prepared, considering them thorough, yet to the point and commercially oriented. - Representing -with an extended team of lawyers of Ur�a Men�ndez and Linklaters- a leading Spanish investment house in a joint venture concerning the first competitive public bid over a major Spanish food company (cleared by the European Commission in the first phase). The team also challenged two competitive bids before the European Commission and the Spanish and Portuguese competition authorities. - Representing a leading wireless local loop (WLL) Spanish operator before the Spanish Competition Court where the proposed acquisition of a rival firm by the Spanish incumbent operator was succesfully challenged. This was a landmark decision which attracted considerable media attention, domestic as well as international (so far it has been the only case where the Spanish government has prohibited a proposed concentration). - Leading a team of competition lawyers in a multi-national merger control project in connection with the acquisition by a leading European construiction company originally based in Spain of a 100% interest in an Austrian waste management group active in Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and Hungary. The value of the transaction was approximately �315 million. Our expert advice and prompt response to the numerous questions let to a successful clearance of the proposed transaction in the first phase in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. - Representing a leading US manufacturer of light industruial equipment in an antitrust claim filed by one of its Spanish distributors in response to an alleged boycott /abuse of dominant position). Preparing this complex defence involved elaborating a thorough economic and legal research as well as an in-depth study of the client�s business model. The case was won in both the first phase and on appeal. |
| As a competition practitioner working with Baker & McKenzie, I have been involved in some of the most high-profile deals in recent Spanish corporate history. Selected cases of my career so far are included in the list below: |
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