Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s team is equipped to advise major Italian and multinational companies on state aid, abuse of dominant position, M&A-related authorisations, as well as administrative and civil litigation before the Italian courts. The team is jointly led by Matteo Beretta, noted for his expertise on European and Italian antitrust law, and commercial litigation expert Mario Siragusa. Particularly active in the framework of merger control procedures and in investigations concerning agreements and abuses of dominant positions, Alice Setari is also recommended. Since publication, Marco D'Ostuni left the firm.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Cleary has always been performing with very high standards in terms of resources and quality level of team members. In particular, the antitrust team is composed of very qualified professionals with a wide experience in merger filings, dawn raid investigations, and antitrust proceedings.'
  • 'I primarily work with Matteo Beretta, who is the leading antitrust partner in the Milan office of the law firm. He is a well experienced antitrust lawyer, and leverages his competence from his knowledge of practical cases.'
  • 'Strong collaboration among teams. Strong knowledge, expertise and commitment.'
  • 'Outstanding knowledge of the business and case law.'
  • 'Best in class for competition law, combined with a great openness to clients and attitude to listen in a humble and collaborative way.'

Key clients

  • Servizio Elettrico Nazionale (SEN)
  • SNAM
  • Google
  • TIM
  • Unicredit
  • Ryanair
  • Zanichelli
  • Lactalis
  • Illumina Inc.
  • Smurfit Kappa
  • F. Hoffmann/La Roche
  • Asterion Industrial Partners

Work highlights

  • Assisted Servizio Elettrico Nazionale (SEN) in an appeal pending before the TAR Lazio for the annulment of a decision of the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) concerning an abuse of dominant position in the retail market for electricity.
  • Represented longstanding client SNAM on all antitrust and regulatory aspects related to the acquisition of a 49.9% stake (directly and indirectly owned) in certain companies operating two gas pipelines connecting Algeria to Italy from Eni. In particular, the perimeter of the transaction includes the onshore gas pipelines running from the Algeria and Tunisia borders to the Tunisia coast (TTPC), and the offshore gas pipelines connecting the Tunisian coast to Italy (TMPC).
  • Represented Google in numerous mandates, including: (1) Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, and Google Italy S.r.l. in the appeal before the Council of State against a TAR Lazio’s judgment rejecting the application for annulment of the decision of April 27, 2020 by which the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) imposed a fine of € 102,084,433.91 on Google for having allegedly refused, without objective justification, to supply ENEL X’s JuicePass service with access to Google’s smartphone projection app, called Android Auto. (2) Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited, and Google Italy S.r.l. in connection with an investigation initiated by the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) on July 5, 2022, following a complaint by Hoda.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
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Leading associates
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Other key lawyers

Matteo Beretta, Mario Siragusa, Alice Setari