Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton maintains a focus on both merger control proceedings and complex competition litigation, accompanying clients through such hearings before Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission. Alongside its work opposite regulatory bodies, the team also helps clients maintain compliance with German and European competition and state aid regulations. Wolfgang Deselaers takes on the spectrum of competition challenges, with particular expertise in appearing for, inter alia, automotive and consumer goods clients in abuse of dominance, cartel and follow-on damages proceedings. Julian Sanner adds further expertise in abuse of dominance cases and is also well versed in merger control proceedings. Romina Polley transitioned to a senior counsel role in 2025.
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Key clients
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen/VfL Wolfsburg
- Beiersdorf
- Ford
- HMD
- Johnson Controls International
- Nestlé
- OCI Global
- Telefónica Germany
Work highlights
Represented OCI Global N.V. in the merger control aspects of the sale of its entire equity stake in Fertiglobe PLC to ADNOC, which also involved the first state-owned entity case under the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation regime.
Represented HMD in connection with patent disputes relating to FRAND before German courts, the German FCO and European Commission.
Represented Google in an antitrust damages litigation brought by Idealo GmbH before the Regional Court of Berlin, based on the European Commission’s Google Shopping decision.
Lawyers
Leading partners
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Other key lawyers
Wolfgang Deselaers; Julian Sanner; Philipp Kirst