Competition
Our range of services includes:
- Commercial arrangements: We provide clients with regular competition law advice relating to a wide range of commercial arrangements and business practices, such as distribution and franchising agreements.
- Compliance programmes and audit: We advise companies across a range of industries on competition compliance programmes. We identify specific risk areas and provide advice on how to reduce those risks, whilst at the same time ensuring clients have as much flexibility as possible to run their affairs as they see fit.
- Investigations: We have been involved in many UK and EU investigations into both alleged cartels and abuses of dominance. We have acted for companies which are alleged to have infringed the law (including successfully applying for leniency), as well as for companies who have complained to competition authorities about the conduct of third parties.
- Litigation: We advise on private actions (eg claims for damages) by third parties who have suffered loss as a result of breaches of competition law. These claims may be based on infringement decisions by competition authorities following cartel or abuse of dominance investigations (socalled "follow-on" actions), or "stand alone" cases which are not based on regulators' decisions. We have also successfully advised clients on judicial review of decisions taken by competition authorities.
- Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures: We advise on all regulatory aspects of M&A transactions and joint ventures, and regularly deal with the OFT and Competition Commission in the UK, the European Commission, and competition authorities throughout the world. We recently acted on one of the first cases to be dealt with under China's new competition law and secured clearance based on a complex remedy that had never before been considered in China.
- Public procurement: We regularly advise clients on public procurement issues across a wide range of industries. We advise contracting authorities who are required to abide by the relevant rules, as well as companies bidding for contracts who may either wish to challenge the award of contracts to third parties, or ensure that any contracts awarded to them will withstand challenge by others.
- State aid: We advise on State aid matters covering a wide range of industries. Our work in this area had included challenging measures taken by HM Treasury.
Related practice areas
"Macfarlanes has a very strong presence before the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) where between 2010-2011 it won some very notable cases."
IFLR 2012
Recognised by Global Competition Review as a world-leading competition practice.
Shortlisted as finalist in competition/regulatory team of the year.
The Lawyer Awards 2011