Dechert Nominated Around the World in Global Competition Awards
Dechert LLP’s antitrust/competition team has been nominated for merger control awards in all three geographical regions – Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific – in Global Competition Review’s GCR Awards 2019. A Dechert antitrust matter has also been shortlisted for “Matter of the Year” in the high-profile contest, established by GCR nine years ago to honor the world’s top lawyers, academics, economists and enforcers in the field of antitrust law.
The publication named the US$66 billion acquisition of Monsanto by Germany’s Bayer AG, believed to be the largest all-cash acquisition in history, to its shortlist for “Matter of the Year”. Dechert acted as co-counsel to Monsanto on EU antitrust issues, advising on merger control clearance strategy, media outreach and engagement with investors and key stakeholders. The landmark transaction, which was earlier named “Deal of the Year” for Europe by The Deal, is also in the running for GCR’s “Merger control matter of the year – Europe”.
Meanwhile, CVS Health's US$70 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna, the largest healthcare services transaction in history, was shortlisted by GCR for “Merger control matter of the year – Americas”. Dechert served as antitrust counsel to CVS Health in the transaction, which received DOJ clearance last November after one of the broadest-ever merger investigations, involving DOJ, 19 state attorneys general, 38 state insurance departments and Congress.
In addition, South Korean memory chip maker SK hynix’s involvement in the US$18 billion acquisition of Toshiba Corporation’s memory business was nominated for “Merger control matter of the year – Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa”. A 50-lawyer, 12-office Dechert team devised a transaction structure that would answer antitrust concerns in China and other Asian jurisdictions, using a convertible bond instrument and fund structure to channel SK hynix’s US$3.6 billion investment into the acquisition.
Overall winners of each category are decided by industry vote. You may vote at the following site:
Voting is open until midnight EST on Friday, February 22, 2019.
About Dechert
Dechert is a leading global law firm with 27 offices around the world. We advise on matters and transactions of the greatest complexity, bringing energy, creativity and efficient management of legal issues to deliver commercial and practical advice for clients.
