Competition
Competition is critical to the success of all business organisations, and a breach of competition law can seriously damage a company’s reputation. In a worst-case scenario, you could also see a breach of competition law threaten the profitability of the company by the levying of financial penalties; staff subject to criminal sanctions; the management team disabled due to director disqualification orders; and the enforceability and effectiveness of commercial arrangements being undermined.
So, if you’re wondering whether competition law applies to your business, the answer is yes – it applies to the commercial arrangements of all business organisations, regardless of their size or the complexity of the organisation. And it’s also worth remembering that it can be breached by staff at any level of the organisation.
Some corporate acquisitions and joint ventures require (prior) clearance under the merger control and/or foreign direct investment control rules or may be called in for review by the relevant authority(/ies).
There are additional competition rules which apply to dominant entities and may impact their commercial strategy.
Businesses can also use competition law to their advantage, for example, in commercial negotiations. A company may be able to obtain an injunction to stop unfair competition by a third party and have the right to claim damages, if it suffers economic loss as a result of anti-competitive activity.
Our Competition Team understands that your commercial objectives are paramount and our advice will help you achieve your legitimate commercial aims.
We have a great deal of experience supporting private and public sector, national and international clients on all areas of UK competition law, handling both contentious and non-contentious matters, and complex transactions. Our extensive experience means you’ll receive the highest quality, pragmatic and commercial advice. Our practice includes the following:
- Abuse of dominance
- Antitrust / cartel investigations
- Commercial agreements
- Competition law compliance programmes and audits
- Competition litigation including damages claims
- Competition law complaints
- Competition policy and lobbying
- Dawn raid support
- Foreign direct investment control
- GSCOP
- Leniency applications
- Market investigations
- Merger control
- Procurement law
- Subsidy control
- Training
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