EU, competition and distribution

Bredin Prat

Bredin Prat stands out for its impressively deep bench and broad expertise, which allows the firm to cover the full range of EU, competition and distribution matters and consistently take on the most complex and strategic cases in the French market. The team remains the first port of call for leading French and international clients, drawing on a wealth of experience in high-profile merger control cases before the FCA and EC; cartel, vertical restraints and abuse of dominance investigations by the national and European authorities; follow-on damages actions; and state aid. A group of well-regarded partners – Olivier Billard, Igor Simic, Marie-Cécile Rameau, Yelena Trifounovitch, Pierre Honoré and Arthur Helfer – leads the practice, with caseloads that run the gamut of competition law. Yohann Chevalier and Sophie Troussard-Fauré provide capable support.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

"Bredin Prat is a high-end French law firm with an international network of comparable firms. They are on all major cases, making them unavoidable as they have experience with the most complex cases with the highest stakes. They therefore have a unique expertise, are extremely reliable and dedicated, putting their clients' interests and satisfaction at the heart of all they do."
"Igor Simic is the lead partner working on our files. He is both an expert and a strategist. He has a unique knowledge of the law which he puts at the service of his client. He embraces all aspects of a transaction or a litigation beyond the legal aspects and is the kind of lawyer you can put in front of your CEO or Board. He is pedagogical and makes complex matters simple. He is extremely engaged, always available, and very pleasant to interact with."
"Bredin Prat is a firm well-versed in handling complex, high-stakes matters. They can mobilize many collaborators while ensuring effective coordination within their teams. They demonstrate great foresight and strategy formulation early on, which is essential in convincing stakeholders. Their ability to adapt to each case and sector, and innovate in defense strategies, sets them apart from other renowned firms."
"The team at Bredin Prat demonstrates exceptional expertise, excellent responsiveness, and a strong understanding of the client's business. They effectively anticipate and define case strategies from the outset, which is crucial in gaining client trust."

Key clients

APE (Agence des Participations de l’État)
AFP (Agence France Presse)
Airbus
Air Liquide
Apple
Aurobindo Pharma Limited
beIN Sports
Casino
Cemex
Christian Dior
CMA CGM
Coca-Cola
Covéa
DAF
Danone
De Longhi
D’Ieteren
Edenred
EDF
Eurazeo
Fnac Darty
Fleury Michon
FDJ (Française des Jeux)
France Télévisions
Google
Iliad
JCDecaux
Lactalis
Legrand
Longchamp
LVMH
Meta
Nike
Open AI
Philips
Rolex
Schneider Electric
SNCF
Sonatrach
Suez
TDF
Uber
Unilever

Work highlights

Providing merger control advice in relation to several high-profile transactions before the European Commission and the French Competition Authority, including: Fnac Darty’s public tender offer for Italy’s Unieuro and Iliad’s attempted merger with Vodafone Italia.
Providing antitrust advice in several leading cases before the French Competition Authority and courts, including follow-on damages actions, including advising: Schneider Electric and Legrand on a landmark parallel criminal and competition law investigation into alleged resale price maintenance in relation to electrical components.
Advising on some of the leading French state aid cases currently before the European Commission and courts, including: EDF on the approval of France’s new nuclear programme.

Lawyers

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