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Oliver Geiss focuses his practice on competition and foreign direct investment (FDI) laws in the EU and Germany. He is a member of the firm’s Global Board and actively supports its DEI initiatives in a leading role.
Oliver regularly advises clients on merger control and FDI notifications of cross-border transactions worldwide and has extensive experience in a variety of industry sectors, including chemicals, automotive, energy and pharmaceuticals. He also leads our German merger control and FDI practice, as well as has extensive experience in well over 100 filings with German regulators – from straightforward acquisitions to complex second phase cases.
Comments in directories like Legal 500 highlight the added value Oliver brings to transactions (“thanks to his contributions, we were able to complete a very challenging project on time”), and state that they “would recommend him to anyone” and elicit praise for his expertise and responsiveness over different time zones.
He has also represented companies in some of the largest cartel investigations before the European Court of Justice, the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office, including Airfreight, LCD Screens, Optical Disc Drives, Refrigeration Compressors and Industrial Batteries, as well as in civil damage actions before national courts. Oliver is at the forefront of developments and regularly publishes in this area.
He frequently advises clients on EU State Aid law, including before the European Court of Justice, and the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation as well as competition law aspects of commercial agreements, such as distribution agreements or joint buying or selling arrangements.
- Securing global merger control and FDI approvals in a complex acquisition in the semiconductor field.
- Experience before the FDI authorities/ministries and coordinating approvals in Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Spain, Romania, Slovenia, Australia and others.
- Representing clients and coordinating approvals in relation to merger control filings before the European Commission, before the authorities in virtually every EU member state, Saudi Arabia’s GAC and China’s SAMR, as well as in Brazil, Egypt, Morocco, Serbia, Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine and many others.
- Representing clients in major cartel investigations before the European Commission and the European courts, including two of the five largest cartels.
- Securing EU merger approval of a US$3.2 billion merger between two major chemical companies.
- Successfully representing a beverage manufacturer in a landmark state aid case before the European Court of Justice.
- Representing clients in civil cartel damage litigation, including the largest cartel damage case ever brought before German courts.
Education
- Higher Regional Court of Darmstadt, Second State Examination, 2000
- Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, First State Examination, 1998
- University of Leicester, English Legal Studies, 1996
Admissions
- Belgium (EU List), 2021
- Germany, 2001
Languages
- English
- German
- French
- Author, “The Stony Road to de-fragmentation of EU Foreign Direct Investment Control (FDI)”, October 2024
- Co-author, “Illumina/Grail - Court Rules that the European Commission Cannot Investigate Deals that Fall Below EU and National Merger Thresholds”, September 2024
- Co-author, “Court Order Highlights the European Commission’s Extensive “Dawn Raid” Powers”, August 2024
- Co-author, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Competition Law: Balancing Innovation and Regulation”, June 2024
- Co-author, “European Commission Uses Dawn Raids to Investigate Foreign Subsidies”, April 2024
- Co-author, “Unveiling the New EU Foreign Investment Regime”, February 2024
- Co-author, “Competition and Employment – A Marriage That Does Not Allow for a Prenup”, December 2023
- Co-author, “Sustainability First, Antitrust Second? - The EU Commission’s New Rules on Agriculture Cooperations”, December 2023
- Co-author, “Another Domino Falls: UK to Follow the EU in Ending the Antitrust Exemption for Liner Shipping”, Nov 2023
- Co-author, “Competition Enforcement in Labour Markets: The Recent European Commission and CMA Investigations and European Update”, November 2023
- Co-author, “How European Authorities Are Foiling Anti-Competitive Hiring”, November 2023
- Co-author, “No More ‘Safe Harbor’ – European Commission to End the Antitrust Exemption for Liner Shipping”, October 2023
- Co-author, “New EU State Aid Rules to Support Private Investments in Green Technologies”, April 2023.
- Co-author, “A Merger May Be an Abuse of a Dominant Position: Recent Guidance From the CJEU in Towercast”, April 2023.
- Co-author, “New EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation Mitigating Risk and Maximizing Business Opportunities” February 2023.
- Author, “Raw Material Surcharges Again on the Cartel Radar - German Authority Raids Cable Companies”, February 2022.
- Co-author, “Towards an Employment Cartel Law?” Competition Law Insight, February 2022.