Philipp Girardet

From 2005 to 2007, Philipp was the Deputy Director of the Cartels branch of the UK competition authority (then the Office of Fair Trading), where he was responsible for the OFT's civil cartel cases and for developing and operating the authority's leniency policy. He also co-chaired the European Competition Network’s (ECN) cross-border leniency working group which developed the ECN’s ‘model leniency programme’ which has since its adoption been a key point of reference for soft convergence of leniency and amnesty policies in competition cases across Europe.

He also worked closely with the European Commission, the US Department of Justice and the OECD Competition Section on competition policy and enforcement issues.

• Recognised by Best Lawyers (2022 Edition) for competition law
• Willkie’s London Competition team was named a finalist in the Legal Business Awards for Competition Team of the Year 2020
• Recognised in ‘The Lawyer Hot 100’ list for 2021
• Recognised in Chambers UK, Chambers Europe, Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal: Competition, Who’s Who Thought Leaders: Competition and Best Lawyers: UK/Competition
• Recipient of The Lawyer’s Competition Team of the Year 2013 award for work on Universal Music’s successful acquisition of EMI Music
• Legal 500, which rates him as a leading individual in his field, reports that clients found him “awesome” and appreciate his “understanding of their business objectives.” Chambers and Partners notes that clients admire that he "doesn't sit on the fence and is willing to give punchy advice."

^{Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP is a limited liability partnership formed under the laws of the State of Delaware, USA and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration number 565650.} 

• Steering Committee of the Global Competition Review’s (GCR) ‘GCR Live: Law Leaders Global’ conference held annually in Miami
• The Law Society, London, Competition Section
• American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Antitrust Committee 

Philipp frequently speaks on competition law issues in the UK and abroad:

• ABA, Antitrust Law Section, webinar, “Presidential Politics  Antitrust”, 21 October 2024
• GCR Live: Global Merger Control 2024, “Judicial review in merger cases”, Brussels, 17 October 2024
• GCR Live: Global Merger Control 2023, “Industrial policy concerns and increasing roadblocks to M&A”, Brussels, 12 October 2023
• GCR Live: Law Leaders Global (2022), "Mergers: Assessing Future Harm in Merger Review", Miami Beach, 27-28 January 2022
• “Willkie Deal Maker Briefing: A discussion with UK Government officials regarding the UK’s new mandatory NSI investment screening regime”, London, 7 December 2021
• UK Competition Law Conference, “Competition Law Challenges in the Digital Sphere", London, 23 February 2021
• ‘Global Dictionary of Competition Law’, published by Concurrences, “Article 11 letter (merger)” (third party requests for information), 2021
• Lexology’s ‘Getting The Deal Through – State Aid’, UK country chapter contributor, 2021
• GCR Live 9th Annual Antitrust Law Leaders Forum, "Is Global Leniency in a Death Spiral?", Miami, February 2020
• UK Competition Law 2020 conference, “In-house perspectives on anti-competitive information exchanges”, London, February 2020
• “Competition Reorg: Hipster Antitrust, EU Revisionism, Brazilian Progressivism and Brexit”, Washington D.C., March 2019
• Compliance – what is now best in breed?, GCR Live Brussels, July 2018
• Dawn Raids Workshop – Getting your response right, Association of Foreign Banks, London, June 2018
• Retail Roundtable – the CMA's decision in Tesco/Booker and its possible views on Sainsbury's/ASDA, London, May 2018
• Brexit – What now? Implications for Business, London, July 2016
• Hot Topics in Competition Law, Shanghai, September 2015
• Hong Kong Competition Ordinance: Preparing for Investigations – an EU perspective, Hong Kong, September 2015
• Doing Business Online – Getting It Right in Europe, London, June 2014
• EU Competition Law and Information Exchange, LexisNexis webinar, London, October 2013
• Antitrust and the Music Industry, 17th Annual International Bar Association (IBA) Competition Conference, Florence, September 2013
• Preparing for and Dealing with Dawn Raids, LexisNexis Conference for In-house Legal Advisors, London, September 2013
• Chairing a seminar with Alex Chisholm, the (then) CEO designate of the new Competition and Markets Authority, June 2013
• Cartels: Conducting Audits and Developing a Critical Action Plan, ABA conference, New York, September 2012

• “First Company Director Disqualification Order Imposed by the UK Competition Authority,” (Willkie Farr & Gallagher Client Memorandum, December 2, 2016)
• Competition Law Insight, “The Eturas case: Online platforms offer no special protection for possible cartel conduct,” April 12, 2016
• Co-editor of Global Legal Group’s “International Comparative Legal Guide to Cartels & Leniency” (2012 to 2016)
• Financial Times, “House Rules: Guidelines for buying government property, and the OFT investigation into property management services,” January 22, 2014

Philipp's significant matters include advising*:

Merger Control - Corporate 

• ARAG SE in its acquisition of DAS UK, a UK insurer specialising in legal expenses insurance from Munich Re
• A leading games publisher, as a third party, in relation to the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard merger
• PAI Partners in its $3.3 billion acquisition of Tropicana, Naked and other juice brands from PepsiCo
• CMA CGM in relation to its global air cargo alliance with Air France
• Cérélia in its acquisition of the European dough business of General Mills
• Expedia Group in the sale of its corporate travel business Egencia to American Express Global Travel Business (Amex GBT)
• Franklin Templeton on its $4.5 billion acquisition of Legg Mason
• Match Group in its $1.73 billion acquisition of Hyperconnect, a leading social discovery and AI and video technology company 
• FIS in its $42 billion agreement to merge with Worldpay, Inc.
• Assurant, Inc. in its $2.5 billion acquisition of The Warranty Group
• Expedia Group on its acquisition of SilverRail Technologies, Inc.
• Expedia Group on its buyout of the AirAsia Go platform from Air Asia
• Kraft Heinz on its acquisition of a portfolio of Kraft ketchup and mayonnaise brands from Mondelez International, Inc.
• Universal Music Group (UMG) in its $1.6 billion acquisition of EMI Music
• Fyffes on its proposed $1 billion merger with Chiquita 

Merger Control - Private Equity

• CapVest Partners LLP on its acquisition of a leading national chain of dental practices in the UK
• Stanley Capital on its acquisition of global specialty pharmaceutical company, Noden Pharma DAC
• FTV Capital in its growth equity investment in London-based pet insurer Bought By Many
• FTV Capital on its acquisition of Sysnet Limited, a leading provider of cyber security and compliance solutions operating in over 60 countries worldwide
• Searchlight Capital Partners on its take private of Opus Group AB, a Sweden-based technology-driven global leader in the vehicle inspection and intelligent vehicle support markets
• CapVest Partners LLP and its portfolio company Valeo Foods in its acquisition of Campbell’s European Chips Business
• FFL Partners, through its portfolio group Laurel Solutions, in the crossborder acquisition of Servelec Technologies (2019)
• Warburg Pincus on its investment in Avaloq
• Bregal Freshstream on its investment in Intergas
• Insight Venture Partners on its investment in Darktrace
• CapVest Partners in its disposal of its remaining Fund II portfolio companies to HarbourVest
• Insight Venture Partners on its investment in Receipt Bank Limited

Competition Law

• Telefonica (O2) in relation to its defence of a damages claim brought by Phones4U (in administration) in the English High Court
• A leading global ship classification society on an industry-wide ESG collaboration project
• eu travel tech, a European industry association, in relation to the challenge of national legislation by the Republic of Portugal in relation to online travel platforms for incompatibility with the EU law
• A leading security software company on its SaaS distribution model
• A leading luxury brand on its licencing arrangements with third parties
• An international sports media rights company in its defence of allegations by the European Commission of anti-competitive market coordination
• Expedia Group in relation to various inquiries into online booking platform MFN clauses
• A leading toy manufacturer in relation to their physical and online distribution policies across the EU
• A number of leading manufacturers of food products in relation to distribution and buying alliance issues
• Acting as preferred dawn raid counsel (with a global coordinating role) for a number of large international businesses
• Fyffes in the European Commission’s cartel investigation into the supply of bananas
• Universal Music Group in relation to the European Commission’s iTunes investigation
• A party in the European Commission’s automotive cartel parts investigation
• A party in the European Commission’s LCD investigation and related follow-on damages claims
• A party in relation to follow-on damages claims arising out of the European Commission’s CRT cartel case
• A party in the UK competition authority’s civil and criminal cartel investigation into the supply of agricultural products
• American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in the European Commission’s International Association of Classification of Societies (IACS) case

^{* Philipp advised on some of these matters at his prior firm.}