
LEGAL
Antitrust, Regulation and Foreign Investment
Offering sophisticated, incisive and commercial advice across the globe.
Search our PeopleOur antitrust, regulation and foreign investment practice advises clients globally, including across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Australia.
We work with the European Commission and European courts on a daily basis, as well as the regulatory authorities in jurisdictions around the world. Furthermore, we have experience in advising on a number of market studies and market investigations carried out by the European Union and national competition authorities.
Authorities are proactively seeking to regulate competition and enforce antitrust rules and companies increasingly face the risk that their industry will be closely scrutinised. With the growth of Big Tech, competition and consumer law have become more intertwined and companies will need to consider the impact of new regulations focusing on the digital sector which are being introduced across multiple jurisdictions. Increased regulation is likely to continue to be an issue in the future.
We believe that robust commercial antitrust advice must be grounded in solid economic assessment from the outset and are one of the very few global law firms with an in-house team of economists.
Foreign direct investment
We have broad experience in the rapidly evolving area of foreign investment. We regularly manage FDI analysis and processes on deals across multiple jurisdictions.
Cross-border capability
Our team works seamlessly across the globe to provide integrated advice on legal and economic frameworks.
Commercial and innovative solutions
We are recognised for our commercial pragmatism and our team provides commercial solutions-focused advice.
Industry expertise
We draw on industry expertise across our global team and the firm to provide tailored advice.
Regulatory changes
We can help you navigate changes as new regulation and guidance enter into force.
Fully integrated legal and economics expertise
Our fully integrated legal and economics expertise mirrors teams fielded by competition authorities, and clients consistently identify this as a crucial differentiating factor that adds significant value across the board, particularly in complex matters.
Raid Assist – Dawn Raids App
In partnership with Ashurst Advance Digital, we have launched a dawn raid app which provides businesses with support preparing for and responding to a raid by the competition authorities.
The app is free to download from the App Store or Google Play with no registration needed, and it provides a structured set of key response actions and materials to help all those involved in the raid respond appropriately during what can be a stressful and pressurised event.
Full details available on the App Store and Google Play.
How we can help
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Merger Control and FDI
The relevance of foreign direct investment (FDI) and national security regimes to international M&A has dramatically increased over recent years.
Read moreMerger Control and FDI
Timely, accurate and incisive commercial advice is essential for successfully managing merger control issues in global transactions. Ashurst has a long track record of advising clients on complex international mergers across a very wide variety of sectors. Our integrated global team of lawyers and economists consistently anticipates the analytical approach of the competition authorities, and provides a clear strategic framework for compelling merger submissions to the regulator. Our team prides itself on providing practical, incisive advice, both on filing obligations around the world and on the substantive competition issues.
The importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) and national security regimes to international M&A has dramatically increased over recent years as a result of the expansion of existing and new regimes. Ashurst has broad experience in this increasingly complex area, across a wide variety of sectors. We regularly manage FDI analysis and processes across multiple jurisdictions, assessing the sensitivities of the activities at stake, ensuring filings are executed in a coordinated and consistent manner, assisting our clients within the negotiation of commitments or conditions that can be imposed by governments, in all cases working with trusted local counsel where appropriate. We do this as part of our transactional advice or as stand-alone advice, and in tandem with our review of merger control regimes, ensuring a smooth and efficient one-stop shop for clients.
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Cartels & Antitrust Investigations
Our global team has decades of experience advising clients worldwide on domestic and international cartel investigations
Read moreCartels & Antitrust Investigations
Experience across market sectors
Our global team has decades of experience advising clients worldwide on domestic and international cartel investigations and prosecutions across the full spectrum of market sectors.
Advice on full lifecycle of investigations
Our team also has extensive experience, and an exceptional track record, advising on the full lifecycle of investigations; from the first investigatory step through to final decision and subsequent damages claims. We provide pragmatic, client focused advice to help navigate the many challenges raised by these complex and often long running matters.
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Abuse of Dominance Investigations
Companies with strong market positions are facing increasing scrutiny
Read moreAbuse of Dominance Investigations
Increased scrutiny
Companies with strong market positions are facing increasing scrutiny from anti-trust and sector regulators and prosecutors around the world.
Navigating investigations across concentrated industries
We draw on our depth of experience in this area both from defending the strategies of dominant companies and protecting the commercial interests of their competitors and customers. Through investigative work and expert advocacy, we have successfully assisted many clients in navigating investigations across concentrated industries. Our multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary team works together to advise clients on strategy development, providing robust, commercial advice on addressing and managing this important area of risk.
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Market & Sector Investigations
Market and sector investigations are increasingly a tool being added to the armoury of anti-trust and sector regulators
Read moreMarket & Sector Investigations
Increasing scrutiny
Market and sector investigations are increasingly a tool being added to the armoury of anti-trust and sector regulators to enable a wide review of markets that may be perceived not to be working well for customers and consumers. Those investigations often involve a complex mix of competition, regulatory and policy consideration, and confer on authorities very significant remedial powers.
Multi-disciplinary expertise
This has long been an area of expertise and our team has the in-depth knowledge to guide and support clients facing potentially industry-changing investigations in any sector, wherever they arise. Our integrated team of expert competition lawyers and economists offers multi-disciplinary expertise at each stage of an investigation, mirroring the teams fielded by regulators and aiming to deliver the best and most efficient outcomes for clients.
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Competition Litigation
Our litigation practice builds on the foundation of our competition law practice.
Read moreCompetition Litigation
Our global competition litigators provide practical solutions to complex legal problems, drawing on their experience in many of the most significant and high profile cases before the courts. Our integrated global team can assist with forum selection and with cases brought in multiple jurisdictions.
We have been an integral part of the development of private competition litigation policy in Europe including working with policy makers in the development of the European Commission's private actions reforms and the UK's antitrust class action regime. We are also acting for clients in competition litigation actions in Europe, including in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We have also acted successfully for clients in class actions across a wide range of industries, particularly in Australia.
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State Aid and Subsidies
Businesses in receipt of government assistance in the EU and UK need careful and experienced advice on State aid and subsidies.
Read moreState Aid and Subsidies
We have a rich experience of working on the most complex State aid cases both in an advisory role and acting in matters before the European Commission and national and EU Courts. Our expertise is drawn from a broad base. We have acted for beneficiaries and providers of State aid, whether these are central government bodies or other parts of the state apparatus, as well as complainants and other third parties. Our practice covers all industries and areas of State aid.
The relatively new subsidies regime in the UK brings its own challenges. We advise both public and private clients in relation to the UK subsidies regime and represented one of the parties in the very first subsidies based judicial review proceedings in the UK.
We are also advising clients on how to prepare for implementation of the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
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Regulated Industries and Infrastructure Access
One of the key issues in regulated industries is access to infrastructure. This is important because it can affect competition, innovation and pricing in these industries.
Read moreRegulated Industries and Infrastructure Access
We understand the issues faced by clients who are subject to access regulation, and who seek infrastructure access on regulated terms. Our team helps clients navigate the subtleties of the access regime and their market position to ensure efficient, practical and considered legal advice that achieves client outcomes while minimising risk.
Our lawyers have successfully advised clients in leading cases in this field and across a wide range of "infrastructure" assets: traversing network utility industries (gas, electricity and water), transport and logistic networks (including railways, ports and airports), healthcare, telecommunications, television, postal services, other regulated media industries, and increasingly IT systems and "big data" access.
Our deep understanding of our clients' needs is enhanced through several members of the team having previously held in-house roles in, or been seconded to, regulated businesses across a range of industries, while others have worked with the regulators themselves.
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Public Procurement
Public procurement plays an important role in ensuring that government entities are held accountable for how they spend public funds, and that private businesses have a fair and transparent opportunity to compete for government contracts.
Read morePublic Procurement
Our procurement lawyers have in-depth experience of designing and running complex procurements and advising on procurement options, structuring procurements, compliance with procurement law, preparing tender responses and modifications to contracts, including risk mitigation strategies. We regularly advise on complex and high profile award procedures. We are also known from our procurement work in the infrastructure sector, and in particular, in relation to major PFI/PPI contracts.
We also regularly advise both public authorities and private sector entities on urgent procurement law disputes and complaints. Our recent experience includes defending Transport for London in High Court proceedings relating to the Silvertown Tunnel Project and Deep Tube Lines and acting for Virgin, Stagecoach and SNCF in a legal action against the Department for Transport over the procurement of the West Coast Partnership franchise.
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Competition Compliance
Dawn raids refer to surprise inspections or searches carried out by law enforcement agencies or regulatory bodies and can be carried out for a variety of reasons.
Read moreCompetition Compliance
We have a long track record of helping clients to identify, mitigate and minimise competition law compliance risks through compliance programmes, audits, tailored training programmes, internal protocols and behavioural standards. Our lawyers also create compliance training materials to reflect the particular concerns and the individual corporate culture of clients across numerous sectors. We regularly brief boards to reinforce the importance of a top-down compliance culture and work with in-house legal teams to develop effective compliance programmes and clear, accessible training.
Responding urgently and effectively to a dawn raid is key to protecting a company's legal position in a competition investigation. We work with clients to prepare for the possibility of a dawn raid, by providing tailored training for in-house counsel and senior management. Critically, we understand how priorities, strategy and necessary preparation have changed with the advent of the very high-speed electronic search software now deployed by most competition authorities.
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Consumer Law
As the law develops in areas such as unfair contract terms, unconscionable conduct, product recalls and consumer warranties it is essential to get the right advice.
Read moreConsumer Law
Our team assists clients in the complex field of consumer protection regulation and provides ongoing support through risk assessments and reviews of our clients businesses to understand and reduce their exposure to consumer law risks.
As the law develops in areas such as unfair contract terms, unconscionable conduct, product recalls and consumer warranties, we help clients as well as shaping the debate on law.
We work closely with clients to enhance compliance training to ensure their business meets the compliance standards to which they aspire and advise on how to avoid compliance risks without compromising competitive advantage.
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