Merger Control

Written by leading lawyers in their respective countries, this reader-friendly guide can be used as a starting point for those not acquainted with the legal particularities of a jurisdiction in connection with merger control. The guide provides a high-level overview of the law in 52 jurisdictions and covers legislation and jurisdiction; notification requirements, timing and potential penalties; substantive assessment of the merger, the role of third parties and remedies; judicial review; and statistics.

What's new?

Jurisdictions new to the second edition are: Argentina, Mexico and Serbia. There is also a foreword from Carles Esteva Mosso.

• Legislation and jurisdiction
• Notification requirements, timing and potential penalties
• Substantive assessment of the merger, role of third parties and remedies
• Judicial review
• Statistics
  

Argentina
Luis Diego Barry
Perez Alati, Grondona, Benites, Arntsen & Martinez De Hoz (h)

Australia
Elizabeth Avery, Luke Woodward and Morelle Bull
Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers

Austria
Axel Reidlinger and Pia Bauer
Reidlinger Schatzmann Rechtsanwälte GmbH

Belgium
Martin Favart and Femke Vanderhaeghen
Van Bael & Bellis

Brazil
Onofre Carlos de Arruda Sampaio and André Cutait de Arruda Sampaio
O.C. Arruda Sampaio

Bulgaria
Christoph Haid and Petra Galina
Schönherr

Canada
Neil Campbell, Casey Halladay and Ryan Gallagher
McMillan LLP

China
Janet Hui and Ziqing Zheng
Junhe

Croatia
Boris Babic, Iva Basaric and Stanislav Babic
Babic and Partners Law Firm LLC

Cyprus
Elias Neocleous and Ramona Livera
Elias Neocleous & Co LLC

Czech Republic
Robert Neruda and Roman Barinka
Havel, Holásek & Partners s.r.o.

Denmark
Michael Klöcker
Lett Law Firm P/S

Estonia
Tanel Kalaus
Jesse & Kalaus Attorneys

European Union
Porter Elliott and Johan Van Acker
Van Bael & Bellis

Finland
Katri Joenpolvi, Leena Lindberg and Jarno Käkelä
Krogerus Attorneys Ltd

France
Thomas Picot
Jeantet Associés AARPI

Germany
Dr Andreas Rosenfeld
Redeker Sellner Dahs Rechtsanwälte

Greece
Marina Androulakakis and Tania Patsalia Bernitsas Law Firm

Hungary
Dr Chrysta Bán
Bán S. Szabó & Partners

Iceland
Helga Melkorka Óttarsdóttir and Bjarki Þórsson
LOGOS Legal Services

India
Farhad Sorabjee, Amitabh Kumar and Reeti Choudhary
J Sagar Associates

Indonesia
HMBC Rikrik Rizkiyana, Vovo Iswanto,
Anastasia Pritahayu R. Daniyati and Ingrid Gratsya Zeg
Assegaf Hamzah & Partners

Ireland
Richard Ryan
Arthur Cox

Israel
Eytan Epstein and Mazor Matzkevich
M. Firon & Co

Italy
Enrico Adriano Raffaelli and Elisa Teti
Rucellai & Raffaelli

Japan
Setsuko Yufu, Tatsuo Yamashima, Saori Hanada and Masayuki Matsuura
Atsumi & Sakai

Latvia
Dace Silava-Tomsone and Viktorija Alksne
Cobalt Latvia

Lithuania
Justinas Šileika
Law Offices Cobalt

Luxembourg
Léon Gloden and Katrien Veranneman
Elvinger Hoss Prussen S.A.

Malta
Ron Galea Cavallazzi and Lisa Abela
Camilleri Preziosi

Mexico
Rafael Valdés Abascal and Enrique de la Peña Fajardo
Valdes Abascal Abogados S.C.

The Netherlands
Gerrit Oosterhuis
Houthoff Buruma

New Zealand
Neil Anderson and Harriet Hansen
Chapman Tripp
Norway
Thea S Skaug, Espen I Bakken and Stein Ove Solberg
Arntzen de Besche Advokatfirma A.S.

Poland
Katarzyna Terlecka and Pawel Kulak
Schönherr

Portugal
Gonçalo Anastácio and Nuno Calaim Lourenço
SRS Legal

Romania
Gelu Goran and Razvan Bardicea
Biris Goran SPARL

Russian Federation
Vladislav Zabrodin and Irina Akimova
Capital Legal Services

Serbia
Srdjana Petronijevic and Danijel Stevanovic
Schönherr

Singapore
Lim Chong Kin and Corinne Chew
Drew & Napier LLC

Slovakia
Jitka Linhartová and Claudia Bock
Schönherr

Slovenia
Matej Kavcic, Simon Bracun, Aleksandra Mitic and Dinar Rahmatullin
Kavcic, Bracun & Partners o.p., d.o.o

South Africa
Mark Garden, Kirsty van den Bergh, Aziza Mdee, Kevin Minofu, Minenhle Sambo and Lufuno Shinwana
ENSafrica

South Korea
Sanghoon Shin, Ryan Il Kang and Nam Woo Kim
Bae, Kim & Lee LLC

Spain
Rafael Allendesalazar and Paloma Martínez-Lage Sobredo
Martínez Lage, Allendesalazar & Brokelmann Abogados SLP

Sweden
Rolf Larsson and Elin Eliasson
Gernandt & Danielsson Advokatbyrå KB

Switzerland
Christophe Rapin and Mario Strebel
Myerlustenberger | Lachenal Avocats

Taiwan
Stephen C. Wu, Yvonne Y. Hsieh and Wei-Han Wu
Lee and Li, Attorneys at Law

Turkey
Gönenç Gürkaynak and Hakan Özgökçen
ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law

Ukraine
Igor Svechkar, Alexey Pustovit and Tetiana Vovk
Asters

United Kingdom
Bernardine Adkins, Samuel Beighton and Rory Jones
Gowling WLG LLP

United States of America
Steven L. Holley and Bradley P. Smith
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

THE FIRM

Van Bael & Bellis is an international law firm with an unparalleled expertise in EU Competition Law.
Van Bael & Bellis helps its clients obtain the necessary merger control approvals, both within and outside the EU. The firm has been involved in many of the most important merger control proceedings before the European Commission. It also regularly represents merging parties (in some cases, interested third parties) in the filing, review and approval of major transactions involving key issues of jurisdiction, procedure and substantive law.
With a large number of lawyers qualified to practise in many EU Member States, Van Bael & Bellis also helps clients to obtain clearance from Member State competition authorities for transactions which do not meet the EU thresholds.
Because of the expertise of Van Bael & Bellis, its clients often instruct it to coordinate merger control filing efforts across the world.

GENERAL EDITOR:

Porter Elliott
Porter Elliott has been a partner at Van Bael & Bellis since 2005.  He specialises in competition law, with particular experience in merger control proceedings, having successfully represented clients in numerous complex cases before the European Commission as well as national competition authorities in Europe and elsewhere. He also regularly counsels clients on all other aspects of competition law, including cartels, abuses of dominant market position, distribution agreements and state aid.
Porter Elliott regularly speaks and publishes on issues of EC competition and merger control law.
He was a key contributor to the fifth edition of Van Bael & Bellis's Competition Law of the European Community, and is an editor of the newsletter Van Bael & Bellis on Competition Law. From 1995 to 1996, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.
Porter Elliott has lectured on merger control issues at numerous conferences and has conducted training sessions on merger control issues for national competition authorities. He also lectures annually at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel's Program on International Legal Co-operation and the Brussels Seminar on Law and Institutions of the European Community.

Jean-François Bellis
Jean-François Bellis is a founding partner of Van Bael & Bellis. Before setting up the firm in 1986, he clerked for Lord Mackenzie Stuart, the British judge at the European Court of Justice, and was a partner in the European law department of a major Brussels law firm. He has several decades of experience in competition and trade law, representing clients in numerous cases before the European Commission and the EU Courts.
Jean-François Bellis assists clients on all aspects of competition law with particular expertise in cartels, abuses of dominance and merger control.  He has acted in landmark competition case including United Brands, Woodpulp, Michelin I and II, Microsoft and Intel.
In 2014, he was honoured by Chambers & Partners for his “Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession”.
Previously, in 2011, the Global Competition Review (GCR) granted him a “Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition of his longstanding experience in competition law. He has also been named by Best Lawyers as a “Lawyer of the Year” for 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Jean-François Bellis has written numerous books and articles on competition and trade law and regularly speaks on both of these subjects at international conferences and seminars.
Jean-François Bellis teaches a course on EU competition law at the Institute of European Studies of the University of Brussels (ULB) and directs a seminar on competition law at the University of Liège. He also lectures on abuses of dominance at the Brussels School of Competition.

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