Competition & Foreign Investment

Competition law is complex and wide-reaching and getting things wrong can be extremely costly to your business and the individuals concerned. From day-to-day operations through to large corporate transactions, competition rules govern many aspects of running a successful business.

Our Competition and Foreign Investment team can support you in meeting these challenges. Whether you need help to stay compliant with competition rules, are subject to a competition law investigation or claim or would like to inform competition authorities, or bring a claim before the courts, about other parties’ potentially anti-competitive conduct, assess whether merger and foreign investment clearances are required for your deal and then secure those clearances, we will guide you through every stage with clarity and confidence.

How we can meet your competition legal challenges

Our specialist team provides comprehensive advice and support for national and international clients in all aspects of competition law including:

• Merger control (UK and multi‑jurisdictional filings)
• Foreign direct investment reviews, including the UK National Security & Investment regime
• Competition law investigations by the CMA and sectoral regulators
• Competition litigation
• Abuse of dominance and unilateral conduct issues
• Commercial agreements (distribution, licensing, cooperation, joint ventures) and compliance risk assessment
• Subsidy control / state aid under UK and EU regimes, including challenges and compliance advice
• Competition compliance programmes, audits and training that meet the CMA’s expectations
• Market and sector inquiries, including advising on risks and opportunities
• Dawn raid response guidance and support

Our Competition and Foreign Investment team’s expertise

The team advises on the full range of competition, merger control, FDI and subsidy control matters, with extensive experience in complex domestic and multi‑jurisdictional transactions. Our expertise is reflected in the noteworthy, high‑value matters clients have entrusted to us, including major CMA investigations, complex merger investigations, multi‑million‑pound follow‑on damages claims and landmark subsidy control appeals.

Clients turn to us for our:

• Hands‑on regulator experience, offering an inside understanding of how regulators think and act
• Practical advice founded in commercial reality
• Proven capability in major, high‑stakes and complex matters
• Competition law expertise with strong sector knowledge
• Joined‑up international offering through trusted global relationships, ensuring consistent and specialist advice across borders
• Significant experience handling notifications required pursuant to the UK’s National Security and Investment Act

Above all, we focus on giving clients clarity, confidence and commercially practical advice, supporting our clients to navigate risk, unlock opportunities and move forward decisively.