Marc Reysen
Partner
Dr. Marc Reysen LL.M. is a partner in O’Melveny’s Brussels office and a member of the EU Antitrust and Competition Practice. Marc has extensive experience advising clients, in particular from North America and Asia, on all aspects of EU and German competition law.
His practice spans the whole range of competition law issues, with a focus on mergers and cartel matters. He has represented clients in complex merger control proceedings before the European Commission and the German Bundeskartellamt and provided strategic advice in relation to merger control procedures in other countries. In addition, he has recently advised and defended clients in a number of cartel investigations, including winning a complete dismissal in an investigation where a leniency application initially implicated his client.
In addition, Marc has also counseled clients in horizontal cooperation matters particularly regarding R&D cooperation, complex licensing arrangements, and production joint ventures. He has also defended clients against allegations of abusive behaviour, advised in relation to structuring distribution systems.
His experience spans a range of industries, in particular the food industry, fast moving consumer goods, financial services, transport and logistics, and industrial products. One particular focus of his practice has been on pharmaceutical products, where Marc has advised clients on major merger control matters, provided behavioral advice, compliance training and guidance in relation to the European Commission’s sectoral enquiry.
Marc holds law degrees from the Universities of Bonn and Edinburgh. He is recognized by a number of publications, including
Who’s Who Legal,
European Legal Experts, and
Juve Handbuch Wirtschaftskanzleien, which calls Marc “experienced and competent,” in its 2010/2011 edition. He is active in the International Bar Association (IBA) and currently serves as Secretary of its Antitrust Committee and Co-Chair of its working group on Developments in Chinese Competition Law. He also serves as a Non-Governmental Adviser at the International Competition Network.
Marc has considerable experience in Asia and recently was co-chair of a panel on the enforcement of abuse of dominance rules in Asia at the joint IBA and Korean Bar Association Competition Law Conference in Seoul, South Korea.
Illustrative Professional Experience
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Schering-Plough/Merck. Representing Schering-Plough in its US$41 billion merger with Merck. The merger of the two major pharmaceutical companies formed one of the world's largest prescription drug makers.
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Schering Plough/Organon Biosciences. Obtaining merger control clearance for Schering-Plough’s acquisition of Akzo Nobel’s Human and Animal Health businesses in a matter that involved more than 100 affected markets.
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Boehringer Ingelheim/Pfizer. Providing strategic merger control advice in relation to the acquisition of animal health related assets from Pfizer.
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Alcon/Novartis. Assisting Alcon in obtaining merger control clearance in Germany and other jurisdictions in relation to the acquisition of an interest by Novartis in a complex case involving complex market structures in the area of OTC and RX eye care products.
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Medco/Celesio. Representing Medco in merger control proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office relating to the combination of its German mail order pharmacy with corresponding operation of Celesio.
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Ingersoll Rand/Trane. Steering the US$11 billion acquisition through the merger control process where exact coordination with parallel procedure in the USA was critical. In addition, providing strategic advice and representation before the European Commission and the Federal Cartel Office in a number of transactions including Ingersoll Rand/OMI, Ingersoll Rand/Doosan and others.
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Baltic Sea Ferries. Representing a German ferry operator in relation to the Commission’s investigation into the cooperation amongst a number of operators regarding the provision of ferry services in the Baltic Sea. The investigation was closed prior to the issuance of a Statement of Objections.
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International manufacturer of fast moving consumer goods. Representing client in a number of cartel investigations before the German Bundeskartellamt.
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voestalpine / Kühne + Nagel. Representing the parties in obtaining merger control clearance from the European Commission for the setting up of a joint venture active in the area of bulk shipping.
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Various Manufacturers. Conducting internal competition audits for manufacturers of food products, chemicals, and body care products.
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Zeppelin. Representing the exclusive distributor of Caterpillar construction equipment in various merger control proceedings before the Bundeskartellamt.
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EQT/Strauss Innovation. Representing EQT in merger control proceedings before the Bundeskartellamt in relation to its acquisition of German retailer Strauss Innovation.
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Bridgepoint/Rodenstock. Providing advice to Bridgepoint in relation to merger control aspects of its acquisition of Rodenstock that effectively allowed the parties to rapidly proceed to closing.
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SNCF/Deutsche Bahn/Nederlands Spoorwegen - Railteam Alliance. Assisting clients in obtaining approval from European Commission for a complex joint venture in the area of cross-border high speed rail transport that brought together competition law and transport policy issues at European and national level.
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Hospitality service provider. Providing competition counseling to a major supplier in the hospitality industry in relation to its owned and managed properties, franchises, and service providers that facilitate the distribution of its services.
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Lufthansa Technik. Providing state aid advice in relation to its setting up of a major MRO facility in central Europe.
Professional Activities
Clerkship, Higher Regional Court of Cologne
Member, International Bar Association; Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht
Officer, International Bar Association, Antitrust Committee
Co-Chair, International Bar Association, working group on antitrust rules in the People’s Republic of China
Recent Publications, “The Aragonesas case: further scrutiny of evidence in cartel decisions,” Competition Law Insight (December 2011); “A more critical approach to evidence in competition cases?” Competition Law Insight (November 2011); “Retail petrol sales in Germany: Beware - market dominating oligopoly ahead!”, Competition Law Insight (July 2011); “Indian Government Announces New Merger Control Regulations,” O’Melveny Client Alert (May 2011); “Don’t Jump the Gun,” PE Manager (May 2011); “Don't margin squeeze your competitors - The Deutsche Telekom AG case,” Competition Law Insight (February 2011); “Fusionskontrolle” (chapter on German and European merger control) in Private M&A Handbuch, CH. Beck Verlag, 2nd ed 2011; Cooperation, Comity and Competition Policy (chapter entitled “Extraterritoriality, Comity and Cooperation in EC Competition Law”), Oxford University Press (2009), Co-authored with Damien Geradin; “Resale price maintenance - The German competition authority is still taking a traditional line,” Competition Law Insight (December 2009); “InBev / Anheuser-Busch – The first published merger decision under the new Chinese AML,” Competition Law Insight (February 2009); “Kartellrechtliche ‘Sammelklagen’ – Neues Modell für kartellrechtlich begründete Schadensersatzforderungen.” Lebensmittel Zeitung (23 May 2008); “A tale of two jurisdictions – The dismissive approach of the Commission and Community courts towards national competition authorities does not aid legal certainty,” Competition Law Insight (February 2008); “Getting tough with Recidivists,” Competition Law Insight (March 2007); “A question of Geography – The Scope of Application of the German de minimis Rules,” Competition Law Insight (March 2007); “When is a transaction a Notifiable Concentration – the European Commission’s jurisdictional notice,” Competition Law Insight (December 2006); “The Volkswagen judgment – Unilateral Actions and Restrictive Agreements,” Competition Law Insight (October 2006); “Settling Patent Disputes,” Competition Law Insight (July 2006)
Recent Speaking Engagements, “Pre-Merger Control in Evolving Jurisdictions,” IBA and IBRAC, ICN in Brazil - The Changing World of Competition, Brazil (April 2012); “Abuse of Dominance: How to Distinguish Anti-Competitive Behaviour from Vigorous Competition,” IBA and Ukrainian Bar Association, 1st CIS Competition Law Conference, Ukraine (December 2011); “Bid Rigging - Cartels in Public Procurement,” St. Martin Conference 2011, Czech Republic (November 2011); “Dominance issues vs. IP rights”, IBA Annual Conference, Dubai (October 2011), “Procedural Issues & Problems in Multi-Jurisdictional Cartel Proceedings”, IBA Annual Competition Conference, Florence Italy (September 2011); “Cartels and leniency in cross-border setting,” International Competition Law Conference, Croatia (June 2011); “Abuse of dominance enforcement in Asia Pacific region,” Joint IBA and Korean Bar Association Competition Law Conference, Seoul, South Korea (April 2011)
Languages, English, German