Rhiannon Pugh

Advising a leading global manufacturer of medical devices on the UK competition law aspects of its acquisition of a key competitor: Using a novel approach to market definition, Rhiannon was able to persuade the UK Competition and Markets Authority that the global transaction, which had already partially completed, would not have a negative effect on competition in the UK and did not need to be reviewed under UK merger control law. If unsuccessful, the parties could have been required to engage in lengthy divestment discussions with the authority and / or have been required to unwind the transaction.

Advising existing shareholders and a new potential shareholder on the EU merger control aspects of the entry of an additional shareholder into an EV charging joint venture: Rhiannon was instrumental in securing an unconditional Phase I clearance of the deal from the European Commission, despite substantial overlaps between the parties' activities and potential significant effects on competition on the nascent EV charging market in future.

Advising innogy on the international merger control and foreign direct investment aspects of its transfer from RWE to e.on: The transaction represented a comprehensive restructuring of the German energy market and Rhiannon led a large team in sourcing all information required from the target for a wide range of international merger control and foreign direct investment notifications. She was instrumental in helping the parties obtain Phase II clearance from the European Commission, which was subject to only limited remedies, despite significant overlaps between the parties' activities across Europe. Rhiannon also coordinated the process by which the parties gained clearance under the complex Polish foreign direct investment laws.

Advising Vodafone on the EU merger control aspects of its acquisition of Liberty Global's operations in Germany: Rhiannon was instrumental in the preparation of the aspects of merger control filing to the European Commission relating to the German market and advised on complex issues of competition law arising from the parties' integration planning, pre-clearance.

Advising a global consumer goods manufacturer on the Phase II German merger control aspects of its planned acquisition of a competitor's assets: Rhiannon was succesful in persuading the German competition authority, the Bundeskartellamt, to accept a novel "up-front" buyer remedy having re-filed an amended transaction structure during the course of the authority's Phase II review. Remedies of this kind had previously been rarely accepted by the Bundeskartellamt mid-merger control review.

Advising a leading German manufacturer of consumer products on its joint complaint to the European Commission against a competitor concerning an abuse of dominance in connection with a patent licensing agreement: Rhiannon led on drafting a complaint to the European Commission, which argued that the regulator should consider a novel theory of harm in a complex abuse of dominance case. Rhiannon was actively involved in raising the attention of a range of key European and German politicians to the client's plight. She successfully persuaded the European Commission to send a request for information to the infringing party, which resulted in that party ceasing its abusive pursuit of global patent litigation and led to a settlement.

Representing a client in the FMCG sector on intervention applications in two European General Court and Court of Justice cases relating to the disclosure of cartel leniency materials; Rhiannon was successful in gaining intervener status for her client before both EU Courts in Luxembourg, in support of the European Commission's case. The case concerned complex issues regarding the disclosure of cartel leniency materials, which would have resulted in significant negative publicity for the client if they had reached the public domain.

Advising the global booking platform, HRS, on the antitrust aspects of the best price (MFN) clauses in its T&Cs and contracts with its hotel partners, following the prohibition of the clause by numerous competition authorities and courts across Europe: Rhiannon acted as lead competition counsel for HRS and liaised with local counsel throughout the world to ensure the consistent adherence by the client with a diverse approach of regulators and legislators to most-favoured nation clauses in HRS' contractual terms.