Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP announced today the opening of an office in Brussels, Belgium. The move positions the Firm to continue to effectively and seamlessly counsel clients on their most complex mandates across continental Europe, by capitalising on the Firm’s locations in key financial and regulatory centres in New York, Washington, DC, London, Frankfurt, and Brussels. Fried Frank’s Brussels office will serve as the center of the Firm’s work in EU merger control proceedings, together with the London Office.
“This expansion advances Fried Frank’s strategy of growing our European presence and continuing to align our offerings in Europe with the core strengths of the Firm in the US,” said David J. Greenwald, chairman of Fried Frank. “With the opening of our Brussels location and the chair of our Global Antitrust and Competition Department Bernard (Barry) A. Nigro Jr.’s rejoining the Firm from the US Department of Justice, we have enhanced our offerings to top-tier clients on their global complex mergers and antitrust investigations.”
“Brussels is a key center for international competition and antitrust activity,” said Mr. Nigro. “Our presence there enables us to continue providing top-tier counsel and international coverage on complex global transactions for leading corporate players in the market.”
Fried Frank’s international Antitrust and Competition Practice has always been ‘Brussels-centric’ both in terms of the team and the Firm’s global matters. Antitrust and competition partner Dr. Tobias Caspary, as head of the Firm’s EU/London Competition and Trade team, will continue to grow the Firm’s offerings in Brussels and Europe, including cross-border merger control, EU cartel investigations, and general compliance counselling, across various industry sectors. Dr. Caspary and the team represent clients on some of the largest and most complex cross-border mergers worldwide, including before the European Commission, the Competition and Markets Authority, and the German Federal Cartel Office.
“We look forward to our continued growth with the opening of our new office and furthering the coverage of our core strengths in Europe,” said Mark Mifsud, managing partner of the Firm’s London office.
The Firm’s Antitrust and Competition Department consistently advises clients on the market’s largest and most high-profile transactions around the world. The Firm was named a finalist in the European Competition or Antitrust Team of the Year category for The Lawyer European Awards 2020. The team recently represented Novelis and Aleris in their US$2.8 billion merger, considered one of the most complex multi-jurisdiction reviews in recent years involving in-depth reviews by authorities in the EU, the US, and China. The transaction was shortlisted by Global Competition Review for 2020 Merger Control Matter of the Year (Europe). The team’s efforts are regularly recognized by Chambers in its Europe, UK, and USA guides, by Legal 500 in its UK and US guides, and by Global Competition Review (GCR), among others.
