With demonstrable strength in state aid and public procurement work, CMS Kluge fields a ‘highly competent and hardworking’ team which is also increasingly active in the complex merger control field. Henrik Nordling heads up the team and focuses on national and European competition issues, state aid work, and regulatory mandates. ’Strong leader‘ Bjørnar Alterskjær has a strong track record in advising private companies and governmental entities on large and complex state aid matters, while Clemens Kerle handles notification and complaint procedures before the EFTA Surveillance Authority.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The team is highly competent and hardworking and tuned into Norwegian society - which is important in the state aid field.’

  • ‘Bjørnar Alterskjær and Clemens Kerle are the firm's stars, by far. Both are pillars in the state aid legal community.’

  • ‘Bjørnar Alterskjær is a strong leader with an important focus on building a strong team with the best network.'

  • 'Clemens Kerle is super smart within his field and has great qualities when it comes to written argumentation. Henrik Nordling is business-oriented and puts in use and suggests other tools to support our case, if it's pre-meeting or approaching things from a different angle.'

  • ‘In my opinion Kluge has the largest and most outstanding EU/EEA Competition, State aid and public procurement law practice in Norway. They are particularly good at state aid and public procurement. The lawyers have heavy professional expertise and commercial understanding and provides extensive assistance to both private and public actors.'

  • 'Bjørnar Alterskjær and Stian Hultin Oddbjørnsen are both very knowledgeable, service-minded and efficient.’

  • ‘Quick response. Expert knowledge. Forward leaning.’

  • ‘Expert knowledge. Nice to work with. Thorough.’

Key clients

  • Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries
  • LEIA
  • HeltHjem Netthandel
  • ENWA
  • PLU
  • Norwegian Association for District Heating
  • Cramo
  • CEPI
  • NorgesGruppen
  • UECC
  • Låssenteret

Work highlights

  • Advising ENWA on its sale to Skion, securing unconditional Phase II approval from the Norwegian Competition Authority.
  • Advising the Norwegian government on structuring the aid package in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
  • Advising HeltHjem on a complaint relating to the financing of certain activities of Posten, the national postal incumbent.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Henrik Nordling

Other key lawyers

Bjørnar Alterskjær, Clemens Kerle, Stian Hultin Oddbjørnsen