Rahul Saha

Rahul has completed a secondment at a major UK retail manufacturer where, as Acting Global Antitrust Counsel, he advised the European General Counsel on all aspect of EU and UK competition law.  

• The Law Society, Competition Section

• “UK Financial Conduct Authority Launches Mortgage Market Study,” December 14, 2016
• “First Company Director Disqualification Order Imposed by the UK Competition Authority,” December 2, 2016
• “Minority report - A look at the acquisition of minority shareholdings in India,” Competition Law Insight, May 2015
• UK Antitrust Chapter of “The Year in Review,” American Bar Association, Vol. 49

Rahul's significant matters include advising*:

Merger Control – Corporate

• Franklin Templeton in the $1.75 billion acquisition of Lexington Partners, a manager of secondary private equity and co-investment funds
• Franklin Templeton on its $4.5 billion acquisition of Legg Mason
• 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 investment in Traveloka
• 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.
• Ladbrokes on its £2.3 billion merger with Gala Coral
• Fyffes in its proposed merger with Chiquita in 2014
• British Land on the sale of Blackstone's interest in its Broadgate JV to GIC
• Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Limited on acquiring a portfolio of power stations in the UK
• A number of FMCG suppliers on the UK Competition & Markets Authority investigation into the Tesco/Booker and Sainsbury's/Asda mergers

Merger Control – Private Equity

• Searchlight Capital Partners in its agreement to acquire a majority stake in Celestyal Cruises
• CapVest Partners on the sale of its portfolio company, leading food manufacturer Valeo Foods, to Bain Capital
• Levine Leichtman Capital Partners on its acquisition of the Creditinfo Group in partnership with its founder and management team
• 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
• Excellence Logging, a portfolio company of Blue Water Energy, in its acquisition of Weatherford International’s surface data logging business
• FFL Partners, through its portfolio group Laurel Solutions, in the crossborder acquisition of Servelec Technologies
• 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
• TDR Capital on its proposed acquisition of SitexOrbis

Antitrust & Consumer Law

Rahul has advised a number of large, multinational businesses on antitrust and consumer law matters. Significant matters include advising*:

• Expedia and trivago on the UK Competition & Markets Authority consumer law investigation into Online Hotel Booking platforms
  trivago on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission investigation into trivago's hotel price advertisements
• A multinational pharmaceutical business on the European Commission's investigation into excessive pricing of pharmaceuticals
• A technology company on the European Commission's investigation into abuse of dominance by Amazon
• A major luxury brand on its selective distribution arrangements
• A leading insurance broker on its compliance program
• A number of multinational manufacturers in relation to their physical and online distribution policies across the EU
• A leading mobile telecommunication services provider on all aspects of their commercial activities
• CEMEX UK on the CC's aggregates, cement and ready-mix concrete market investigation
• A major European energy producer on the CMA's energy market investigation

Competition Litigation

Rahul has experience of advising companies on competition litigation in the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal, High Court and appeal courts. Significant matters include advising*:

• Telefonica (O2) in the largest stand-alone anti-trust damages claim currently in the English courts, brought by Phones4U in the High Court in London
• A specialty chemicals and advanced materials company on brining a standalone abuse of dominance claim against a competitor in the High Court in London
• Telefonica (O2) in a series of cases, relating to interconnect charges, before the Competition Appeals Tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court
• Visa Europe on a threatened abuse of dominance claim under the then newly established fast-track procedure before the CAT
• A major European satellite operator on bringing an abuse of dominance claim in the High Court against a competitor

* Rahul advised on some of these matters prior to joining Willkie.