Europe - Switzerland

Baker McKenzie

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‘Technically savvy’, Baker McKenzie’s wide-ranging experience extends from cartel investigations and immunity applications to merger control filings and market dominance advice. ’Solution-oriented’ Roger Thomi and Boris Wenger jointly helm the practice, with the former’s knowledge comprising a significant range of antitrust law issues, and the latter involved in precedent-setting cases in a number of courts, such as the Swiss Supreme Court. Philippe Reich maintains a strong practice in the sphere of antitrust compliance, and is regularly engaged by clients across a diverse spectrum of sectors.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘They understand the business and market as few others do. Thus, they are practical professionals.’

  • ‘Polite professionals, pragmatic and technically savvy.’

  • ‘Roger Thomi and Philippe Reich are a very good team, always up to date on recent developments (regulatory, case law, etc). Both have a lot of experience in different aspects of Swiss and European competition law and a very solid understanding of our business and industry. Their advice is always clear and to the point.’

  • ‘Philippe Reich and Roger Thomi are very experienced in handling complex competition law issues. Their advice on competition law is always clear and understandable and questions are answered with a clear yes or no.’

  • ‘Roger Thomi provides expert advise on competition law. This combination of skills proves most helpful when it comes to understanding competition law issues and finding appropriate and practical solutions the business people appreciate and can work with. ’

  • ‘Solution-oriented and pragmatic’

  • ‘High competence in competition law’

  • ‘Boris Wenger: very high competence in competition law, has very good knowledge of the practice and is very solution-oriented ’

Key clients

  • Abbott
  • Arbonia
  • Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
  • Baloise Group
  • Barry Callebaut
  • Burger Söhne
  • Caran d'Ache
  • Coats
  • Conzzeta
  • CSL Behring
  • Daetwyler
  • Daimler
  • Deutsche Bahn
  • Doc Morris (former Zur Rose Group)
  • Emerson Electric
  • Estée Lauder
  • FedEx
  • Hitachi
  • International Electrotechnical Commission IEC
  • Keystone SDA
  • Kühne + Nagel
  • Lonza
  • LVMH
  • McDonald’s
  • Monsanto
  • Mövenpick
  • MUFG Bank
  • Nikon
  • Porsche
  • Raiffeisen
  • RUAG
  • Schneider Electric
  • Seiko
  • Sika
  • Smith & Nephew
  • Stihl
  • Swiss Banking Association
  • Swiss Payment Association SPA
  • Tandem Diabetes Care
  • UBS
  • World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Work highlights

  • Advised Sika, the Swiss global construction chemicals group, on the successful EUR 5.3bn acquisition of Master Builder Construction Chemicals (MBCC) Group from Lone Star. The transaction represents the largest acquisition in Sika’s 113-year history and was closed on May 2nd 2023.
  • Advised and represented Estée Lauder in the Swiss COMCO investigation and the appeal proceedings before the Federal Administrative and on the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court of December 2022 and a potential appeal to the Federal Supreme Court regarding information exchange in the luxury cosmetics and perfumes sector. This was the leading case in Switzerland on a standalone exchange of commercially sensitive information and ended for the client with no fine to be paid.
  • Advised the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) on its Open Banking Project in Switzerland. The project enables the implementation of open banking use cases and the development and rollout of multibanking offerings for individuals. It is an important step towards achieving the open finance objectives set by the Swiss government and supports the digital transformation of the financial sector in Switzerland.

Lawyers

Next Generation Partners

Roger Thomi

Roger Thomi

Baker McKenzie LLP

Roger Thomi is a partner at Baker McKenzie Switzerland and the co-head of the Swiss Antitrust & Competition Practice Group. Roger is specialized in antitrust & competition law, in commercial law – in particular distribution, franchising, and joint ventures – and regulatory matters. He has practical industry expertise in the food & beverages and the healthcare industries. The Legal 500 ranked Roger as a “Next Generation Partner" in competition law, praised for his "solution-oriented" approach and extensive "knowledge comprising a significant range of antitrust law issues." Roger Thomi has vast experience in all aspects of Swiss and European antitrust and competition law. He represents Swiss and international clients before competition authorities and courts, including in national and international cartel investigations and abuse of dominance proceedings, merger control or investment control filings, as well as in civil antitrust disputes. Roger's experience includes the introduction of selective or exclusive international distribution systems and the structuring of horizontal cooperation agreements (e.g., R&D cooperation, joint purchasing and joint production) and strategic alliances between competitors, setting up robust antitrust compliance programs, as well as advice on unfair competition law and advertising law. As an experienced commercial lawyer, Roger assists clients in drafting all kinds of commercial agreements, particularly distribution, franchise, agency, e-commerce, manufacturing, supply and joint venture agreements. In addition, he helps clients to strengthen and transform their supply chains and to pursue their sustainability goals and manage sustainability-related legal risk. Roger has extensive industry expertise in the food and beverages and healthcare industries. With his practical knowledge in food regulatory matters, he supports clients in launching food innovations, in food labelling and marketing, as well as in sustainability. He also regularly advises healthcare and pharmaceutical companies in connection with distribution of their products.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Roger Thomi, Boris Wenger

Other key lawyers

Philippe Reich