Mededinging
De vrije markteconomie is gebaseerd op mededinging. Het is de taak van de Europese Commissie en de nationale mededingingsautoriteiten om erop toe te zien dat deze mededinging niet wordt beperkt. Het Mededingingsteam van Houthoff geeft advies en assisteert nationale en internationale ondernemingen, instellingen en overheden in procedures bij de Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM), de Europese Commissie, buitenlandse mededingingsautoriteiten en de relevante (gespecialiseerde) rechterlijke instanties. De expertise van het team omvat fusietoezichtprocedures, dawn raids en onderzoeken naar vermeende kartels of misbruik van machtsposities en staatssteun. Ons Mededingingsteam beschikt over uitgebreide juridische en economische expertise en sectorspecifieke kennis. Wij combineren juridische en economische analyses voor optimale oplossingen en processtrategieën.
Het team is gevestigd in zowel Amsterdam als Brussel en staat bekend om zijn strategische en pragmatische aanpak, precedentscheppende zaken en thought leadership. Het team in Brussel heeft daarnaast een bijzondere focus op staatssteun.
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“One client stated: 'we received responses from Houthoff in a timely manner, the advice given is always of a high quality and it is always a pleasure to work with the team'.”Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law (2024 Edition) -
"A client mentioned: ‘A very proactive team that not only takes care of imminent tasks but looks ahead and provides guidance on how to best take care of matters ahead’."Legal 500, Competition/European Law (2024 Edition)
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"A client mentioned: 'Houthoff is our go-to firm in the Netherlands. It has a deep bench of lawyers who are pragmatic and commercial and are a pleasure to work with'."Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law (2023 Edition)
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"One client said: 'the Houthoff team has an excellent eye for what is important and commercially relevant for clients'."Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law (2023 Edition)
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"A client says: 'the team has been great in navigating through new waters and building up persuasive arguments before the Dutch court'."
Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law (2023 Edition) -
"One client said: ‘Houthoff can handle all kind of cases with an exceptionally high level of quality.’"
Legal 500, EU and Competition (2023 Edition) -
"A client mentions: ‘The strength of the team lies in the fact they are knowledgeable about the transport sector and are therefore able to give practical advice.’"
Legal 500, EU and Competition (2023 Edition) -
“A client praises the firm for its ‘commercial and common sense approach to the work’.”Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law (2022 Edition)
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“Houthoff is strong in international matters. Good network, high quality.”Legal 500, EU and Competition (2022 Edition)
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“Houthoff has a swift and responsive team with good sectoral knowledge. They are also very proactive in suggesting new ways of collaborations and billing.”Legal 500, EU and Competition (2022 Edition)
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“The Houthoff team is very knowledgeable and all-round which enables them to serve as our “one-stop-shop.”Legal 500, EU and Competition (2022 Edition)
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“The team is very supportive and responsive, meeting all of our needs. The team is very meticulous in all of its legal analysis and focused on preparing for important court filings well ahead of time.”Legal 500, EU and Competition (2022 Edition)
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“Interviewees endorse the firm for its scope, one asserting that ‘it has a combination of technical excellence and commercial pragmatism.’”Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law (2021 Edition)
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“A clients homes in on the firm’s ‘practical approach.’”Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law (2021 Edition)
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“They are knowledgeable, respond quickly and are able to present difficult material clearly.”Legal 500, EU and Competition (2021 Edition)
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“The Competition team at Houthoff has genuine strength in depth – an excellent group of partners supported by an expert team of associates. Collectively, they are experts in their field and a pleasure to work with.”Legal 500, EU and Competition (2021 Edition)
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RecommendedLegal 500, EU and Competition (2021 Edition)
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“Team players, very well aware of the legal framework, strong communication skills, feeling for the business, looking for the limits of what is feasible and responsible.”Legal 500, EU and Competition (2021 Edition)
FUSIETOEZICHT
Voor een fusie, overname of joint venture kan een melding bij de bevoegde mededingingsautoriteit of -autoriteiten vereist zijn. Met ervaring in ruim 250 fusiemeldingen, waaronder meldingen in alle belangrijke jurisdicties, kunnen onze specialisten uitstekende adviezen geven over de kansen en strategieën bij deze processen.
Ons Mededingingsteam is betrokken geweest bij innovatieve verticale integraties zoals die tussen kaartenmaker Tele Atlas en TomTom encomplexe horizontale fusies zoals recentelijk die tussen de universitaire ziekenhuizen AMC en VUmc.
KARTELS EN MISBRUIK VAN MACHTSPOSITIE
Houthoff heeft uitgebreide ervaring in kartelzaken, waaronder de baanbrekende T-Mobile zaak over kartels en het begrip ‘doelbeperking’ bij het Europese Hof van Justitie. Ons Mededingingsteam heeft ook bijstand verleend bij een groot aantal nationale en internationale onderzoeken en toonaangevende zaken op het gebied van misbruik van machtspositie zoals de veelbesproken NS zaak bij de ACM. Zie Competition Litigation voor onze expertise en ervaring op het gebied van procedures over de vergoeding van kartelschades.
STAATSSTEUN
Staatssteunregels verbieden de staat om aan ondernemingen een niet-marktconform selectief voordeel toe te kennen dat niet vooraf bij de Europese Commissie is aangemeld. Het niet-naleven van deze aanmeldingsverplichting, het op onjuiste wijze gebruik maken van een aanmeldingsvrijstelling of het niet toezien op het voldoen aan de vereisten van het beginsel van de particuliere investeerder, kan verstrekkende financiële gevolgen hebben. Een onderzoek door de Europese Commissie of een uitspraak van de Nederlandse rechter kan leiden tot een verplichting voor de onderneming die van de staatssteun profiteert om het financiële voordeel terug te betalen aan de staat, inclusief rente.
Onze specialisten hebben ruime ervaring met het vormgeven van strategische projecten die voldoen aan alle staatssteunregels en het zo nodig voeren van procedures voor cliënten bij de Europese Commissie en de nationale en Europese rechter. Zo hebben wij de gemeente Eindhoven succesvol vertegenwoordigd in de onderzoeksprocedure van de Europese Commissie naar vermeende staatssteun aan de voetbalclub PSV.
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Advised Titan, a leading independent liquified biomethane (LBM/bio-LNG) and LNG supplier to the maritime and industrial sectors, on a successful funding round leading to InfraVia obtaining (through one of its investment vehicles) a 45% equity stake in Titan.
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Advised Torraspapel, part of the Lecta Group, on the acquisition of Avery Dennison's Offset Pressure Sensitive Sheet Business EMENA. Torraspapel will take over manufacturing and selling Avery Dennison's portfolio of FASSON™ and JAC™ branded self-adhesive papers in EMENA, which will allow Lecta to further expand its activities in specialty markets.
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Houthoff advised Zwanenberg Food Group on all competition law related aspects of its acquisition of Struik Foods Europe. Houthoff obtained clearance for the deal from the Dutch ACM and comfort from the CMA with the assistance of Travers Smith. This transaction creates a significant operator in the field of soups, sauces, preserves and convenience meals. Zwanenberg Food Group employs 1,600 people who together achieve net sales of € 420 million. Struik Foods Europe, which achieves annual sales of €120 million, employs 200 people. Houthoff's team was led by Gerrit Oosterhuis.
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A team from Houthoff led by Gerrit Oosterhuis secured clearance for the acquisition of an important production facility of Unilever by Zwanenberg, one of the leading Dutch producers of meat products.
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Early 2017, Profile launced a campaign in which it alleged that 'Profile Brand Service' (Profile Merkonderhoud) was much cheaper (up to 28%) than the service of the authorised repairers. It did not use and trademark rights of car manufacturers.
Again, Houthoff acted on behalf of 18 car manufacturers and made an end to the Profile campaign, as Profile was unable to demonstrate that it was always much cheaper than the authorised repairers.
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The growing importance of e-commerce creates conflicting interests between manufacturers or wholesalers and retailers, particularly if these retailers perceive the activities of their suppliers as unfair competition for their stores. Houthoff has supported the franchisees of one of the Ahold banners in working out a solution that seeks to find a solution for this by introducing rules, a compensation scheme and clear rights and obligations for both parties.
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Advising university medical centres in public tender procedures for IT and electronic medical files.
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Advising on the establishment of internet pharmacies including various regulatory and competition aspects of internet sales of pharmaceutical products.
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Advising both public bodies and large construction companies on state aid rules in relation to contracts for the realisation of various prestigious projects. In many cases, the financial impact of the application of the state aid rules in the concerned multimillion projects can be considerable.
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Advising pharmaceutical wholesale companies on various regulatory aspects of the distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical devices including the notification, packaging/labelling requirements and CE-marking.
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Advising public bodies and renowned companies on the state aid rules applicable to the roll-out of broadband, environmental taxes, sustainable energy, major regional investment projects and agriculture.
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Assisted the AMC and VUmc hospitals in obtaining the required approval from the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) for an administrative merger. The approval enables the two Amsterdam-based university medical centres to cooperate on patient care, research, education and training without limitation. This will create the biggest university medical centre in the Netherlands.
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Representing Total in a follow-on damage claim.
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Representing Nationale-Nederlanden, a major insurance company in a preliminary procedure (case C-51/13) before the EU Court. The case concerns questions from the Rotterdam court on the interpretation of EU directives on the life insurance sector and more specifically the pre-contractual information requirements imposed on insurers. The EU Court has ruled in favour of Nationale-Nederlanden.
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Houthoff is representing the association of realtors, VBO Makelaar, in ongoing civil proceedings before the court of Amsterdam against Funda. Funda is the largest online real estate portal in the Netherlands and a subsidiary of the largest association of realtors in the Netherlands, NVM. The case is one of the few Dutch cases based on abuse of dominance. The case revolves around discriminatory practices by Funda to the detriment of VBO Makelaar's members.
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Represented of the municipality of Eindhoven in the formal investigation of the European Commission on presumed state aid to footballclub PSV.
Sectorspecifieke kennis
Onze specialisten hebben ruime ervaring met het staatssteunproof vormgeven van strategische projecten en het zonodig voeren van procedures bij de Europese Commissie. Zo vertegenwoordigden zij de gemeente Eindhoven succesvol in de onderzoeksprocedure van de Europese Commissie naar vermeende steun aan PSV.Mededingingskwesties zijn vaak zeer sectorspecifiek. Ons Mededingingsteam clustert daartoe de ervaring en kennis van specifieke sectoren zoals agrifood, vastgoed, manufacturing, energie, transport, zorg, technologie, media en telecom (TMT). Zo omvat de expertise binnen TMT in het bijzonder digitale mededinging waaronder ecommerce en online platformen. Door deze expertise kon Houthoff succesvol optreden in sectorspecifieke zaken zoals die van de fusie tussen afvalverwerkers Shanks en Van Gansewinkel, de overname van broodgigant Bakkersland door Borgesius en vele ziekenhuisfusies (waaronder in Rotterdam, Tilburg, Haarlem/Hoofddorp en Amsterdam), de overname door de Duitse zuivelgigant DMK van grote delen van Uniekaas of de aankoop van een grote vastgoedportefeuille door het Amerikaanse CBRE.
