Pinsent Masons bolsters its Competition, EU & Trade Group with appointment of Robert Vidal

Robert joins from Taylor Wessing where he was Head of Competition, EU & Trade in the UK. A highly respected expert in his field, Robert has significant experience advising on competition law across a variety of sectors, with specialist expertise in the life sciences, pharmaceuticals and technology sectors.

His credentials include advising some of Europe's leading organisations on European Commission and CMA investigations, on disputes before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and High Court, on EU and UK merger control, and delivering compliance and behavioural advice.

Robert has acted for Sun Pharma on its high profile appeal to the CJEU against the European Commission's decision to impose total fines of €146m in relation to "reverse payment" settlement agreements in the pharmaceutical sector. He recently helped Pfizer obtain CMA merger control approval for the sale of its UK compounding business to Baxter. He has also advised News Corp on its recommended cash offer for talkSPORT owner Wireless Group plc for £220.3m covering multijurisdictional merger control requirements and the application of the public interest test in the area of media plurality.

Alan Davis, Head of Competition, EU & Trade at Pinsent Masons said, "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Robert to the team. The demand for competition law services continues to increase. Pinsent Masons' competition team is therefore bolstering its bench strength and expertise across the firm's core sectors, appointing highly skilled practitioners like Robert. Life sciences and technology remain important areas of focus in our competition practice and across the firm as a whole. Robert brings an outstanding track record and a wealth of experience that deepens our ability to offer high quality competition law advice in those sectors."

Clare Tunstall, Head of IP and Life Sciences, said, "Pinsent Masons has a large team of lawyers specialised in Life Sciences & Healthcare who advise across a range of IP, transactional and regulatory matters. Competition law is a strategically important area of focus in the sector and Robert's appointment brings a deep specialism and expertise that will help our clients to navigate the increasingly complex regulatory environment."

Robert Vidal, said, "Pharmaceutical, tech and data-rich companies are currently under close scrutiny by competition authorities worldwide, and this is only set to increase. Organisations operating within these industries require experienced legal advisers with a deep knowledge of their sector and markets.  I'm looking forward to joining Pinsent Masons' highly regarded and skilled team of competition law experts to help deliver that."

Robert Vidal's appointment brings the number of partners in the Competition, EU & Trade Group across the UK and Germany to eight.  The team continues to advise leading organisations including TEVA Pharmaceuticals, E.ON, Post Office, Hanson, Macmillan Publishers, and DCC. It has a market leading practice and is currently advising on UK and German antitrust enforcement investigations in the pharmaceutical, financial services, construction and manufacturing sectors, as well as market investigations. The team's merger control practice saw it advising Post Office on its acquisition of Payzone; UKTV (BBC Worldwide JV) on the £14.6bn acquisition by Discovery; on the $550 million Hewlett Packard/Apogee merger in the technology sector; and on the £1.2bn acquisition of Fenner PLC by Michelin. The team is also advising on a variety of competition litigation matters, including follow-on and stand alone damages claims.