Philipp Girardet

Following merger clearances in Germany and Austria, these brands will now be sold and marketed across Europe by Kraft Heinz. On October 23, Willkie client The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) completed the reversion of certain Kraft brands from Mondelēz International (NADAQ: MDLZ) to Kraft Heinz, following merger clearances in Germany (see here) and Austria (see here). Under the transaction Kraft Heinz re-acquires a number of brands and associated assets which were previously licensed to Mondelēz in certain European territories. The relevant brands include Kraft Ketchup, Kraft Mayonnaise, Bull’s Eye and Legeresse. As a result of the transaction, which included an accelerated termination of certain licenses, these brands will now be sold and marketed across Europe by Kraft Heinz. The Willkie European Competition team advised The Kraft Heinz Company on the antitrust and merger control aspects of the deal, obtaining unconditional Phase 1 clearance in Germany and Austria. The cross-border team was led by partners Philipp Girardet (London) and Susanne Zuehlke (Brussels) and included associates Philipp Heuser and Rahul Saha.

Nov 3

1 min

Willkie represented Cérélia in its proposed acquisition of General Mills’ European dough businesses. On November 24, it was announced that Cérélia has agreed to acquire the European dough businesses of General Mills. The proposed transactions would encompass General Mills branded and private label dough businesses in Germany, the UK and Ireland. Each of the transactions is expected to close by the end of fiscal 2022, with the German transaction subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Cérélia, a portfolio company of Ardian, is a global leader in ready-to-bake dough solutions, with a product portfolio that includes pie and pizza dough, pancakes, crepes and cookies. Willkie has previously advised Cérélia on numerous transactions, including, most recently, its acquisition of US Waffle. The Willkie team was led by partners Eduardo Fernandez, Claire McDaid and Philipp Girardet, and included partners Jens-Olrik Murach and Bettina Bokeloh (on the German transaction) and Rahul Saha (on the UK transaction).

Dec 2

1 min

PAI, a leading private equity firm with strong experience in the food and beverage space and longtime Willkie client, will be the majority shareholder of the transferred business. On August 3, it was announced that PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) has entered into an agreement with longtime Willkie client PAI Partners to sell Tropicana, Naked and other select juice brands across North America, and an irrevocable option to sell certain juice businesses in Europe, which will result in combined pre-tax cash proceeds of approximately $3.3 billion while retaining a 39% non-controlling interest in a newly formed joint venture. PAI, a leading private equity firm with strong experience in the food and beverage space, will be the majority shareholder of the transferred business, with PepsiCo retaining exclusive U.S. distribution rights to the portfolio of brands in its best-in-class, chilled Direct Store Delivery for small-format and foodservice channels. These juice businesses delivered approximately $3 billion in net revenue in 2020 with operating profit margins that were below PepsiCo's overall operating margin in 2020. PepsiCo expects to use the proceeds from the sale of these assets primarily to strengthen its balance sheet and to make organic investments in the business. The transaction is expected to close in late 2021 or early 2022, subject to customary conditions, including works council consultations and regulatory approvals. PAI Partners is a pre-eminent private equity firm, investing in market-leading companies across the globe. PAI manages around €15 billion of dedicated buyout funds and, since 1994, has completed 84 investments in 11 countries, representing over €65 billion in transaction value. PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. The company generated more than $70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream. The cross-border, multidisciplinary Willkie deal team is led by partners Robert Rizzo in New York and Faustine Viala in Paris, and includes partners Nathalie Duguay, Morgan McDevitt, Erin Kinney, Jeffrey Korn, Philipp Girardet, Eugene Chang, Geri Anne McEvoy and Russell Pinilis.

Aug 3

2 min

New York, NY (February 17, 2021) --- Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP today announced that prominent antitrust lawyer Dr. Jens-Olrik Murach will join Willkie’s Antitrust & Competition Group as a partner. Mr. Murach will be based in Willkie’s Brussels and Frankfurt offices. He was previously a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Murach has over 20 years of experience practicing antitrust law in Brussels and Germany. His practice covers a full range of EU and German antitrust issues, including merger control, restrictive practices, market dominance, cartel investigations, distribution systems, sectoral investigations, compliance, and antitrust litigation. “Jens-Olrik is highly regarded as a leading antitrust lawyer in Europe, known for his pragmatic, commercial approach and deep client relationships,” said Philipp Girardet, Head of Willkie’s European Antitrust & Competition Group. “His extensive experience, in particular in merger control and cartel defense matters as well as in relation to antitrust litigation in front of EU and German Courts, will strengthen both our EU and German antitrust and competition capabilities. We are very pleased to welcome him to the firm.” Mr. Murach has advised on many complex and high-stakes merger control matters, both before the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office. He also has significant experience in managing global merger control investigations. Mr. Murach regularly represents companies in cartel and abuse of dominance investigations before the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission, including handling leniency applications, settlement negotiations, and appeals against infringement decisions. He also has significant experience advising on vertical distribution matters and represents clients in commercial and administrative antitrust litigation before German courts and the courts of the EU in Luxembourg. “Willkie’s Antitrust & Competition Group is a well-integrated global team with a strong track record across Europe and the US and a collaborative approach across offices and jurisdictions,” said Mr. Murach. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to help clients with their most pressing and challenging antitrust matters.” Mr. Murach is recognized as a leading practitioner by Chambers Europe and Chambers Global 2020 in the area of Competition: EU (Belgium), and recommended in the JUVE Handbook (2017-2021), The Legal 500 Deutschland (2021), The Legal 500 EMEA (2020), Who’s Who Legal and The Best Lawyers™ in Germany (2021) for Competition/Antitrust Law and Litigation. A frequent author and speaker, Mr. Murach wrote a handbook on German merger control, Deutsche Fusionskontrolle, and is a co-author of a German commentary on EU antitrust law, Frankfurter Kommentar zum Kartellrecht. He serves on the academic advisory board of leading German antitrust law journal Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb and regularly lectures at the Academy of European Law. Mr. Murach is fluent in German and English. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP serves an antitrust world without borders with a fully integrated team of competition lawyers in the U.S. and Europe and with close connections to competition law experts in all other major jurisdictions. We represent a global client base with global merger filings, U.S. and European investigations of all forms of anticompetitive activity, class action and private litigation, and business ventures in multiple jurisdictions. We act across many sectors, including financial services and consulting, business and financial information, media, e-commerce, hedge funds and private equity, pharmaceuticals, transports, energy, telecommunication, retail apparel, industrial and chemical manufacturing, and satellite communications. ***************************************************** Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm of approximately 750 attorneys with offices in New York, Washington, Houston, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Brussels, Milan and Rome. The Firm is headquartered in New York City at 787 Seventh Avenue. Tel: 212.728.8000.

Feb 17

3 min

New York, NY October 5th, 2021 --- Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP today announced that it has expanded its antitrust and litigation platforms with the additions of Boris Bronfentrinker, Elaine Whiteford and Nicola Chesaites. The team will join Willkie’s London office from Quinn Emanuel where Boris co-led the UK competition litigation practice, Elaine and Nicola were partners. They will be joined by a team of at least eight associates. Today’s announcement reflects Willkie’s commitment to continue to expand its antitrust and litigation practices in London and globally, to service our clients’ needs in the important area of competition disputes. A recognized market leader, Boris Bronfentrinker has extensive experience representing both claimants and defendants, in high profile cases in the English courts, including the Supreme Court and the Competition Appeal Tribunal, as well as coordinating competition litigation proceedings for clients globally. His team is also experienced in litigating competition law matters before the European Courts in Luxembourg. Additionally, Boris and his team have represented clients in the defense of competition investigations by the European Commission and national competition authorities, as well as in relation to sector inquiries and managing internal investigations into competition law and bribery/corruption issues. Boris is widely recognized as a leader in his field by legal ranking guides, uniquely acting regularly for both claimants and defendants. Boris and his team are acting on some of the largest and most important competition litigation matters that are presently before the courts, securing landmark judgments that are shaping the competition litigation landscape. The directories rank the team as at the top of the market in competition litigation; the recently published The Legal 500 UK 2022 Edition ranks the practice in Tier 1, and they are seen as the ‘go to’ team in the area of collective actions. Boris and the team have won multiple awards, including “Litigation of the Year – Non-Cartel Prosecution” for 2021 at the Global Competition Review Awards, and “Competition & Regulatory Team of the Year” at the Lawyer’s Awards in 2020. Welcoming Boris and the team to the firm, London managing partner Peter Burrell commented: “We are very pleased that Boris, Elaine and Nicola will be joining the Firm. They are an experienced and highly regarded team who regularly advise clients on the most complex and high profile antitrust litigation matters. Their arrival represents another significant expansion of our London office and demonstrates our commitment to growing our services in response to the needs of our clients.” “The opportunity to join Willkie’s impressive global antitrust and litigation platforms from which we can continue to develop and grow our market leading practice was too good an opportunity to let go. Willkie is a perfect fit for our practice and ambitions for the future,” said Boris. “Willkie is involved in some of the most complex compliance and antitrust matters and we will be able to offer clients on the defence side an end-to-end service from the investigatory stage through to the civil litigation stage, whilst also being able to continue to take on important cases for clients on the claimant side. We are excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to joining the Willkie team, adding to their existing impressive capabilities in London and globally.” “The antitrust challenges our clients are facing are becoming ever more complex,” said Philipp Girardet, Head of Willkie’s European Antitrust & Competition Group. “The arrival of Boris, an outstanding antitrust litigator, and his first class team, will further strengthen Willkie’s position as a ‘go to practice’ for complex compliance and cartel matters, offering expert advice at every stage of a case, including importantly protecting our clients’ interests in the courts.” Elaine Whiteford is a highly experienced competition and EU litigator, having regularly counseled clients on contentious EU, competition and regulatory matters and has been involved in most of the significant competition damages cases that have come before the English courts. She is frequently sought after to represent clients facing investigations by the European Commission, the CMA, the FCA, Ofwat and Ofcom. Elaine has extensive experience litigating claims before the English and European courts, including one of the few abuse of dominance claims to go to trial in England. Nicola Chesaites is a barrister and advocaat (Belgium), focusing on competition and complex EU litigation. She has extensive experience in competition damages litigation before the English courts and in challenging and defending European institutions in complex EU law matters including, EU trade, banking, sanctions, customs, pharmaceutical and competition law disputes. Nicola has developed a particular expertise in collective actions, being regarded as one of the market leaders in this important and developing area. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP serves an antitrust world without borders with a fully integrated, market-leading team of competition lawyers in the U.S. and Europe and with close connections to the leading competition law experts in all other major jurisdictions. We represent an international client base with global merger filings, U.S. and European antitrust investigations, private litigation and class actions, and the structuring of complex business ventures in multiple jurisdictions. We act across many sectors, including financial services and fintech, e-commerce and other online platform services, business and financial information, media, pharmaceuticals, transports, energy, telecommunication, retail apparel, industrial and chemical manufacturing, and satellite communications. ***************************************************** Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm of approximately 1000 attorneys with offices in Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Rome, San Francisco and Washington. The Firm is headquartered in New York City at 787 Seventh Avenue. The Firm is headquartered in New York City at 787 Seventh Avenue. Tel: 212.728.8000.

Oct 5

4 min