The Brussels office is the hub of our European Antitrust & Competition Practice and also represents Belgian and international clients in an array of corporate and commercial transactions as well as litigation matters.
Our Antitrust & Competition Team provides cutting-edge advice on all aspects of European and EU national competition law. The multi-language Brussels team works seamlessly with our Antitrust & Competition teams in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and in the United States, navigating clients through their most challenging matters. We regularly represent international corporate clients, financial institutions, and private equity sponsors on complex merger control matters before the European Commission and national competition authorities, such as the German Bundeskartellamt or the French Autorité de la concurrence, securing clearances or acting as interested or intervening parties. We have a proven track record of managing seamless global merger control investigations in virtually every part of the world. The Brussels office is also regularly involved in Foreign Direct Investment screening filings across Europe, particularly before the French and German regulators. In addition, our team regularly advises on EU and national cartel and abuse of dominance investigations, including leniency applications and settlement negations. Together with our market-leading antitrust litigation practice, we offer a unique holistic service comprising governmental investigation and follow-on damage litigation. Clients also regularly call upon us for advice in commercial antitrust matters, such as distribution systems and cooperation agreements, and for antitrust litigation before the Courts of the EU and national courts. Another strong pillar of our Brussels team is its focus on EU State Aid advice.
The Brussels office handles complex public and private business transactions in Belgium and abroad covering a broad range of industries. The team advises on M&A, joint ventures, venture capital, general corporate matters (including advice on corporate governance, shareholders agreements, directors’ liability and disclosure requirements). The practice also includes public takeover, listings, offerings on securities markets and private placements. With our integrated multi-jurisdictional private equity teams in the US and in Europe, we represent a number of world’s leading private equity funds in a broad range of private equity transactions. In addition, our lawyers have significant experience in the areas of financial markets and investment regulation, including representing banks, investment advisers and other securities professionals in their relationships with Belgian regulatory authorities.
The Brussels office’s prominent litigation practice covers a broad array of contentious matters, ranging from complex commercial or corporate litigation to white collar crime defense and investigations. We offer creative solutions to our clients’ most tangled and complex disputes, whether it involves a labyrinthine series of contracts and agreements, a joint venture ordeal, a heated shareholder battle, accusations of fraud, a problem with a regulator, or other bet-the-company events. We regularly appear before judicial and arbitration courts of Belgium. Our white-collar team comprises experienced trial lawyers and former officers of enforcement agencies. We represent companies and financial institutions and their executives, in high-stakes matters and all types of financial investigations, such as (cross-border) bribery, money laundering, export controls, trade sanctions and human rights. Our team regularly assists clients in criminal and governmental investigations, and conducts internal investigations for clients and their boards. We also counsel our clients on the development and the improvement of compliance programs. Together with our litigators in our other European and U.S. offices, we provide an integrated platform of legal services covering multiple jurisdictions and geographies.