At Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, the team is 'able to pull from the firm’s resources across the globe to deliver insightful advice', making it an advisor of choice for major international corporates, particularly those from the TMT, energy, pharmaceutical and consumer sectors. 'Charismatic' managing partner Kyriakos Fountoukakos acts as global head of the competition, regulation and trade practice. Lode Van Den Hende is noted for his state aid expertise, while Daniel Vowden has significant experience of advising on foreign direct investment control and analogous regimes. Of counsel Peter Rowland is the name to note for merger control work.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘The Brussels team were highly knowledgeable, proactive and solution-orientated in our efforts to engage with the EU. They also knew who to engage with and at what level.’
‘Eric White and Lode Van Den Hende took the lead on our efforts and assured we stayed on the most likely track for success.'
‘They are logical and also very practical because they know how the business works.'
‘Kyriakos Fountoukakos has stood out for a long time. He is of course the expert on EU competition law, but is also knowledgeable in global competition law practice, which gives you "packaged" advice as a global client. His friendly, soft communication style is also helpful for the clinets not to be panicked even when the situation is tough.’
‘They have a truly global reach and top antitrust lawyers in the major jurisdictions.’
‘Kyriakos Fountoukakos has significant expertise on antitrust and competition.’
‘The Herbert Smith team delves well into the details and commercial aspects of the matters they work on. They are great project managers and are able to pull from the firm’s resources across the globe to deliver insightful advice. They stick to deadlines and respond to feedback. They are able to interact effectively with non-lawyers and extract the information that they need. ’
‘Kyriakos Fountoukakos is a great lawyer, with a charismatic personality. He has great communication skills and is able to speak the language of business people. He is well connected in Brussels and can give insightful advice on strategic matters.’

Key clients

Uber
Comcast / Sky UK / Sky Deutschland
Google
The Coca-Cola Company
United Group
Sumitomo Corporation
Mitsubishi Corporation
Synthomer
British American Tobacco
Eni
Capital & Counties Properties
Altra Industrial Motion
SMBC Aviation Capital

Work highlights

Representing a car manufacturer in parallel investigations by the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority in relation to automotive end-of-life vehicles.
Advised Altra Industrial Motion on the merger control aspects of its $4.95bn acquisition by Regal Rexnord Corporation.
Represented the Coca-Cola Company in an abuse of dominance antitrust investigation launched by the European Commission.