Simmons & Simmons

Alejandro is a partner in our EU Competition Law and Tech Regulation practice based in Brussels and in Madrid. He currently specialises in antitrust and commercial regulation, compliance and investigations, as well as in related disputes and litigation, in a variety of sectors including TMT, energy, consumer products and e-commerce. Specifically, Alejandro advises clients on the interplay between competition law and the GDPR, cybersecurity, and other related aspects of EU tech and platform regulations. Throughout his career, he has had first-hand and material involvement in important competition matters in the TMT sector, including two of the four Google EU investigations since 2010, and two four-to-three mergers in the telecoms sector (WIND/Hutchison/JV and Telefónica Deutschland/E-Plus). He has developed its expertise on competition and data privacy law and policy, and advises clients on the impact on their business of future EU regulation, such as the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. Alejandro originally trained at the energy merger unit of the European Commission. Over the years, he has represented and acted for clients in numerous mergers across a variety of sectors, including the following: the European Commission, in two in-depth reviews in the gensets and paper European markets. a telecommunications service provider, in the completion of its €21.8 billion JV with its competitor in Italy, obtaining a clearance with remedies. an insurance service provider in its acquisition of a brokerage business representing €800 million in revenues and €1.9 billion in total assets. a manufacturer of pulp and paper products in its $1.45 billion acquisition of a competitor. a manufacturer of printers and electronic devices in its $3 billion acquisition of a networks equipment manufacturer. a cosmetics manufacturer in its $240 million acquisition of a competitor. a beverage producer in its $3.2 billion acquisition of a manufacturer of home-beverage products. Alejandro is qualified in Spain and in Belgium, and speaks fluently Spanish, English and French. He has an LL.M by the Université Libre de Bruxelles and an MBA by the University of Chicago, and is CIPP/E certified under the IAPP. He has co-edited two textbooks on e-commerce and on competition and trade in the pharmaceutical sector. He currently lectures on EU Competition Law at Queen Mary University, and on GDPR and EU tech regulation at King’s College University.

Annabelle Bruyndonckx

With over 25 years of experience in advising clients in the Healthcare & Life Sciences industries, Annabelle Bruyndonckx is recognised as one of the leading sector lawyers in Belgium. Strongly focused on Medtech and the digitalisation of (consumer) healthcare, Annabelle assists international pharmaceutical and biotech companies and global medical device manufacturers, as well as food supplements and cosmetic businesses. As litigation specialist and regulatory expert, her practice at Simmons & Simmons LLP covers all parts of regulated products’ life cycle from R&D to marketing authorisation/CE marking, qualification issues, pricing and reimbursement, manufacture and distribution, public procurement, advertising, compliance, and product liability. Annabelle heads the Regulatory Affairs Education Group & is a board member of Healixia, the Belgian community of professionals involved in the lifecycle of medicines, medical devices, in-vitro diagnostics, and other health-related products. She is a regular speaker at international Healthcare and Life Sciences conferences.

Carl Meyntjens

Carl’s practice focuses on corporate and financial law. He has nearly 30 years experience in advising Belgian and international corporate clients, and financial institutions in a broad range of both domestic and cross-border transactions. He works across a variety of sectors and is referred to in all major legal directories. Carl is an “advocaat” at the Brussels Bar and works in English, Dutch and French. His recent work includes: advising an international energy company on the purchase of a major gas and electricity supplier in Belgium advising a leading international waste-to-product company on its merger with a major Benelux recycling group advising a Japanese conglomerate on the purchase and development of a major industrial site in the Brussels area advising a UK private equity fund in connection with the acquisition of a Belgian listed company through a leveraged take-private transaction in Belgium advising an international private equity fund on the primary (and secondary) buy-out of a leading Belgian industrial company advising one of the world's leading supply chain companies in establishing a pan-European account receivable securitisation program advising a consortium of international banks in their financing of the LBO of a leading Belgian technology player. Carl joined Simmons & Simmons as a partner in the Brussels office in late 2016. Prior to that, he was a partner for 18 years (of which ten years as Managing Partner) at another major international law firm in Brussels. Carl leads both the corporate & commercial and financial markets practices in Belgium.

Dimitri Van Uytvanck

Dimitri heads the employment & benefits department for Belgium. He specializes in employment law and provides advice to a wide range of clients, finding solutions to their most complex legal challenges and he has an extensive experience in all sectors, including Financial Institutions, Life Sciences, TMT and Energy and Infrastructure. His main areas of expertise are labour law and social security law, with a specific focus on the employment law aspects of corporate restructuring, transfer of undertakings, flexible work arrangements, and privacy at the workplace. Dimitri also advises regularly on remuneration packages for executives, employee benefits schemes, and employment contracts. He provides strategic advice regarding labour union relations within companies and business-critical issues. Dimitri is known on the market as a pragmatic and to the point lawyer who always focuses on the legal and economic interests of the company. His recent work includes: successfully assisting a major insurance company in the transfer of its marine portfolio and the transfer of the employees. successfully assisting a multinational pharma company in a “soft” restructuring process, i.e. a change in working conditions for the employees without formal termination. successfully assisting an international entertainment company in respect of the outsourcing of certain activities. successfully assisting a multinational pharma company with the implementation of new flexible working methods and flexible working time schemes. successfully assisting a telecom company in the negotiation of the transfer of 600 employees in the framework of CBA 32bis. Before joining the firm in 2019, Dimitri was a senior associate at a leading international law firm based in Brussels. He is a frequent lecturer on employment related topics.

Eric Blomme

Banking & Finance Partner at Simmons & Simmons, based in Brussels. Head of the Belgian Banking & Finance team. Expert in acquisition & leveraged finance, real estate finance, corporate lending and trade & export finance. Experienced adviser on restructurings and insolvencies.

Olivier Mignolet

Olivier specialises in commercial law and commercial litigation/arbitration, with a particular emphasis on regulatory legislation in the healthcare and life sciences sector, distribution law, real estate and intellectual property rights. Olivier is the local head of the dispute resolution practice in Belgium. He is also a member of the firm's crime, fraud & investigations group. Olivier has in particular gained significant experience of advising companies in the healthcare and life sciences sector. Olivier handles complex litigation and arbitration matters. He is recognised as one of the leading Healthcare & Life Sciences lawyers in Belgium. He represents and advises industry clients of all sizes from Top 10 global pharmaceutical and medical devices companies to Belgian biotechs, as well as trade associations. Olivier has also been a part-time lecturer at the University of Louvain (UCL) for 12 years and he is a member of CEPANI /CEPINA (Belgian centre for arbitration and mediation). Olivier has published articles and books on civil procedure, arbitration and pharmaceutical law.

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