The increasing number of jurisdictions implementing regimes to review mergers, acquisitions and the formation of joint ventures, coupled with enhanced co-operation between regulators and the increasing sophistication of regulatory reviews means that the process of obtaining approvals requires an increasingly multi-jurisdictional and substantively sophisticated approach. Our team has significant experience in developing and co-ordinating multi-jurisdictional strategies, identifying potential issues and strategies to address them early in the process, and pro-actively managing interactions with regulators and the approval process. Members of our team have extensive experience from European institutions, such that we know how the European Commission thinks and operates. This significantly enhances our ability to develop and implement effective strategies.
We have significant experience and expertise in obtaining smooth and rapid clearances in transactions in the technology, communications and media and life sciences sectors. This in large part reflects our deep and detailed knowledge of these sectors, facilitating the early identification of potential issues and the rapid development of strategies encompassing legal, economic, factual and policy arguments, to manage those issues. We also believe in proactively engaging with regulators early in the life of a transaction to begin the process of introducing the relevant market dynamics and features that are crucial to the assessment of the transaction.
Covington has a long history of configuring virtual teams across offices to ensure that we effectively and efficiently achieve the desired end result. This is our default approach in merger clearances, working closely with our colleagues in Washington DC, on the West Coast of the United States, in London and in Beijing.
Representative Matters
Members of our team have represented and represent clients in some high profile mergers, including:
- Microsoft in relation to its acquisition of Skype.
- FaceBook in relation to its acquisition of Instagram.
- AstraZeneca in connection with its Type 2 Diabetes joint venture with BMS.
- Microsoft in relation to its formation of an ehealth joint venture with GE.
- Ryanair in its appeal against the European Commission’s decision to block its proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus.
- Ryanair in its appeal against the UK Office of Fair Trading’s assertion of jurisdiction over its proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus.
- King Pharmaceuticals in connection with its acquisition by Pfizer.
- Vivendi in relation to its acquisition of Activision.
- Intel in relation to the formation of its flash memory joint venture with STMicroelectronics, Nymonyx.
- Seagate in connection with its acquisition of Maxtor.
- MCI in relation to its acquisition by Verizon.
- Infineon in connection with its acquisition of divisions of both Texas Instruments and LSI.
- Rusal in relation to the formation of a new venture combining its bauxite, alumina and aluminium assets with those of Sual and Glencore.
- WorldCom in connection with its proposed acquisition of Sprint.
Representative List of Clients
- Verizon
- Microsoft
- FaceBook
- Electronic Arts
- OCP
- AstraZeneca
- Joy Global
- King Pharmaceuticals
- Philip Morris
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