Competition: EU and global

Latham & Watkins LLP

Latham & Watkins LLP's 'simply excellent' team has recently been particularly focused on expanding its merger clearance offering to position itself as an advisor of choice for foreign direct investments and foreign subsidies regulation issues. On the behavioral side, the group continues to act in the gamut of investigations run by the European Commission. Managing partner Lars Kjølbye and vice chair of the global competition practice Héctor Armengod oversee the department. Other key names include Carles Esteva Mosso and Sven Völcker. In October 2022, 'bright and fast' Christos Malamataris re-joined the firm from the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘The Latham team handles several high profile and complex matters for us. They are special at understanding our complex business in a fast and comprehensive fashion. They are commercially sound, reliable and have a great sense of urgency. They delivery high quality and practical advice.’
‘Christos Malamataris is a rising star in the EU competition community. He is bright and fast at grasping the essential technical aspects requiring legal advice. Surely his period at the EU Commmision makes a difference and helps massively with risk assessment and mitigation. He is original and thinks out of the box. He's incredibly competent, yet not only on the legal aspects.'
‘Responsive, practical guidance.’
‘Héctor Armengod is well-qualified, responsive and quick to identify key issues.’
‘The team at Latham & Watkins is simply excellent, and their efficacy benefits from a rare team spirit.’
‘Sven Völcker is an experienced and pragmatic partner, who is capable of identifying the most salient issues in complex situations, and providing a clear description of what is at stake.'
‘Excellent team, very profound antitrust expertise, very pragmatic advice.'
‘Lars Kjølbye - outstanding antitrust partner. Responsiveness, industry know-how, excellent and pragmatic advice.'

Key clients

American Airlines
CVC
Farfetch
Grail
Hyundai Heavy Industries
Lufthansa
Microsoft
Orange
Singapore Airlines
The Carlyle Group
Viasat
Vodafone
Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

Work highlights

Advising Grail on its $8bn acquisition by Illumina.
Advised Viasat on obtaining global antitrust and foreign investment approvals for its $7.3bn acquisition of Inmarsat.
Represented the Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company in an investigation launched by the European Commission into possible abuse of dominance.

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