UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Stratakis and Marc Freedman, Van Bael & Bellis
Van Bael & Bellis (VBB) is a leading EU and UK competition law practice, advising on the full range of competition issues, including merger control. From its offices in Brussels and Lon - don, the VBB team assists clients at both the EU and national levels, notably appearing be - fore the European Commission, the UK Compe - tition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the EU and UK courts, acting as lead counsel in many landmark cases. Within the field of merger con - trol, a VBB team of EU and UK specialists rep -
resents merging parties and complainants in cases involving key issues of jurisdiction, pro - cedure and substantive law, and has secured clearance for numerous complex transactions before the European Commission and the CMA. It also helps clients to obtain merger clearance from member state authorities for transactions that do not meet EU thresholds. The firm is fre - quently called on to co-ordinate global merger control filings.
Authors
Alex Stratakis is a partner and head of Van Bael & Bellis’ UK competition practice. He is a dual EU and UK qualified lawyer, and has 20 years’ experience in advising on all aspects of competition law, focusing on complex merger control (including a number of Phase 2 reviews), FDI screening, abuse of dominance, market studies and market investigations, distribution and subsidy control. He frequently represents clients before the UK CMA, the European Commission and national competition authorities across the globe, as well as before the European and national courts.
Marc Freedman is counsel at Van Bael & Bellis. He advises clients on complex UK, EU and
multi-jurisdictional merger control (including Phase 2 investigations and appeals), FDI screening, antitrust investigations, abuse of dominance, market studies and market investigations. He has particular expertise regarding UK merger control, including a year-long secondment to the CMA’s mergers unit. In the digital space, in addition to his substantial merger control experience, Marc has also advised on numerous UK and EU antitrust investigations and sector inquiries concerning Big Tech companies – including, most recently, each of the CMA’s first-ever SMS designation investigations.
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