Paul Gilbert’s practice focuses on EU and UK competition law, including merger control, anticompetitive agreements, abuse of dominance, and sectoral regulation.
He has represented clients before the European Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (and its predecessors, the Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission), as well as in litigation before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal.
Paul joined the firm in 2011, became counsel in 2015, and became a partner in 2021. Before joining the firm, he was Deputy Director of Competition Policy at the UK Office of Fair Trading.
Notable Experiences
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Actavis in its $66 billion acquisition of Allergan.
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Adevinta in its $9.2 billion acquisition of eBay Classifieds Group.
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Bank of America on the sale of its wealth management business to Julius Baer.
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Broadcom in its proposed $61 billion acquisition of VMware.
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Cascade Investment in the approximately $4.7 billion recommended cash acquisition of Signature, as part of a consortium with Blackstone and Global Infrastructure Partners.
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Fidessa in the £1.5 billion recommended all-cash takeover offer from ION Investment Group.
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Google before the CMA in its acquisition of Looker Data Sciences.
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HCA in its appeal of the CMA’s Private Healthcare Market Investigation.
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Lafarge in its €40 billion combination with Holcim; in connection with the Competition Commission’s Market Investigation into aggregates, cement and ready-mix concrete; and in its UK building materials joint venture with Anglo American’s Tarmac business.
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Metlac in resisting an attempted acquisition by AkzoNobel, and in successfully resisting a challenge brought before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal against the Competition Commission’s prohibition decision.
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OpenText in its acquisitions of Micro Focus and GXS.
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Ryanair on the competition aspects of its bid to acquire Aer Lingus and related minority share acquisition, including litigation before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal.
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Sony Corporation of America on the EU antitrust aspects of the $2.2 billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing.
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Tronox in its $300 million acquisition of TiZir Titanium & Iron from Eramet.
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Veolia S.A. in its $15 billion acquisition of Suez.
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The Walt Disney Company in connection with its acquisition of 21st Century Fox; and in the investigations by the UK communications regulator Ofcom and the Competition Commission into the UK pay-TV sector.
Selected Activities
- Member, British Institute of International and Comparative Law
- Law Society of England and Wales, Competition Section
Publications
“CMA Examines UK Labour Markets Amidst Heightened Regulatory Scrutiny,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, April 16, 2024
“Third Time’s The Charm: CAT Overturns Own Hydrocortisone Decision in Landmark Judgment,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, March 26, 2024
“CMA to scrutinise competition in the veterinary sector,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, March 25, 2024
“European Supervisory Authorities Publish Report on BigTech firms in EU Financial Services,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, February 12, 2024
“Court of Appeal upholds extraterritorial information-gathering powers,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, January 22, 2024
“FCA seeks input on data asymmetry between Big Tech and financial services firms,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, December 4, 2023
“UK Government Considers Changes to National Security and Investment Regime,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, November 15, 2023.
The Dominance and Monopolies Review – 11th Edition
“Big Tech and Retail Financial Services: FCA’s Latest Insights and Policy Initiatives,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, August 9, 2023
“UK” chapter, Chambers Merger Control 2023 Global Practice Guide, August 2023
“CMA Fines Leicester City FC for Anticompetitive Pricing Practices,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, August 1, 2023
“UK Competition Agencies Prioritise Efforts to Tackle Cost of Living Pressures,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, July 18, 2023
“UK National Security Regime: Annual Report 2023 and Observations on Recent Practice,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, July 13, 2023.
“CAT Declines Certification of Collective Proceedings Against Mastercard and Visa,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, July 6 2023
“High Court Grants Director Partial Exemption From CMA Disqualification Undertaking,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, June 20, 2023
“Nine Years of Enhanced Concurrency in UK Competition Regulation,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, June 13, 2023
“CMA and European Commission cleared Viasat/Inmarsat transaction after in-depth investigations,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, June 13, 2023
“CMA’s heightened scrutiny of PE “roll-up” acquisitions: recent cases and lessons,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, May 22, 2023
“CMA Launches Initial Review Into AI Foundation Models,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, May 22, 2023
“UK Government Prefers ‘Context-specific Guidance’ Instead of Formal New Regulation for Artificial Intelligence Technology,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, April 12, 2023
“UK” chapter, Chambers Merger Control 2022 Global Practice Guide, August 2022
The Dominance and Monopolies Review – 10th Edition
“Wide-Ranging New UK National Security Regime Comes Into Force,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, January 4, 2022
UK Competition Regime: A Practitioner’s Guide (editor), September 2021
“Government Consults on ‘Ambitious’ Reform to UK Competition Policy,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, August 9, 2021
“UK” chapter, Chambers Merger Control 2021 Global Practice Guide, July 2021
“New UK National Security Regime to Come Into Force in January 2022,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, July 21, 2021
“United Kingdom,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 9, 2021
“Dutch Court Rules On Legal Privilege For In-House Lawyers,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, March 4, 2021 (originally published January 4, 2021 by Concurrences)
“ECJ Annuls Paramount Commitments on Cross-Border Pay-TV Licensing,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, January 4, 2021
“No Reversing Allowed: Trucks Defendants in Follow-on Cases Required to Stand by Their Admissions to the Commission,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, December 7, 2020
“UK Proposes A Mandatory, Pre-Closing National Security Regime,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, November 13, 2020
“European Commission Announces New Policy to Accept Member State Referrals for Merger Review Even if EC and National Thresholds Are Not Met,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, October 12, 2020
“Analysis of the UK Supreme Court’s Decision in Unwired Planet v Huawei,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, October 1, 2020
“UK Merger Control, the New Normal,” Financier Worldwide, September 2020
“UK Government Prohibits Acquisition of UK Supplier of Military Aircraft Components,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, September 22, 2020
“Waiting for Brexit: Five Ways the CMA Could Improve UK Merger Control,” European Competition Law Review, September 2020
“United Kingdom,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 8, 2020
“UK Trends and Developments,” Chambers Merger Control 2020, August 2020
“UK Government Introduces New Powers to Intervene in Mergers on Public Interest Grounds,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, June 26, 2020
“UK Suspends Elements of its Antitrust Laws and Refocuses Enforcement in Response to COVID-19,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, April 2, 2020
“CMA Ramps Up Merger Control Enforcement Ahead of Brexit,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, February 26, 2020
“Payment Services in the EU: Price Regulation to Protect a Duopoly,” Competition Law Journal, January 30, 2020
“Agency Agreements” and “Subcontracting Agreements,” EU Competition Law VI: Vertical Restraints, April 2020
“United Kingdom,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 7, 2019
“United Kingdom,” Getting the Deal Through’s 2019 Competition Compliance Guide, June 2019
“FCA Issues First Penalties for Competition Infringements,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo, February 26, 2019
“Where Angels Fear to Trade: Algorithms and Antitrust,” Financier Worldwide, February 19, 2019
“UK Government Proposes National Security and Investment Regime,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, August 9, 2018
“United Kingdom,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 6, 2018
“The EU Court of Justice Clarifies the Scope of the Regulatory Framework for Three-Party Schemes but Individual Assessment Is Needed to Determine Whether Fee Caps Apply,” Concurrences, February 7, 2018
“United Kingdom,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, August 2017
“United Kingdom Competition Compliance,” Getting the Deal Through, June 2017
“Impact of Brexit on UK Competition Litigation and Arbitration,” Kluwer Journal of International Arbitration, September 2016
“United Kingdom,” by Paul Gilbert, The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, June 2016
“‘A Watershed Moment for Enforcement’—Sizing up Class Action Competition Reforms,” Legal Business, November 4, 2015
“New Rules May Mean More Private Actions in Antitrust Cases,” The Lawyer, October 2015
“United Kingdom,” by Paul Gilbert, The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, June 2015, p. 403-420 (Chapter 26)
“Privacy Considerations in European Merger Control: A Square Peg for a Round Hole,” Competition Policy International, June 1, 2015
“Changes to the UK Cartel Offence—Be Careful What You Wish For,” Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, Oxford University Press, December 4, 2014
“United Kingdom,” by Paul Gilbert, The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, June 2014, p.319-332 and p. 345-362 (Chapter 23)
Events
- Speaker at Law Society Annual Competition Law Conference, June 2023
- Speaker at Cleary Gottlieb webinar, “UK Antitrust Enforcement Post-Brexit: What’s New and What’s to Come,” May 2021
- Speaker at Exploring Tech and Digital M&A Trends Between the UK and China event, November 2020
- Presentation to China Britain Business Council on investment in tech companies, November 2020
- Speaker at Cleary Gottlieb webinar, “UK Antitrust Enforcement Post-Brexit: What to Expect and How to Prepare,” October 22, 2020
- Speaker at Cleary Gottlieb Retail Mergers Seminar, February 2020
- Speaker at CEPS conference on payment services regulation (Brussels), February 2020
- Speaker at “Rebates after After Intel,” White Paper Conference, October 2019
- Speaker at Cleary Gottlieb Seminar seminar on UK competition law after Brexit, May 2018
- Speaker at IBC Legal’s UK Competition Law 2017 event, February 28, 2017
- Panel chair, “Process, Privilege and Procedure in EC Cases,” at Global Competition Review 2016 Annual Conference, July 2016
- Speaker at Kluwer BREXIT conference, September 2016
- Chaired IBC Conference on Big Data and Competition Law, October 2016
- Speaker at Bruegel event on “Antitrust Concerns in Zero Price Markets,” November 2016
- Participant at CMA roundtable on use of confidentiality rings and disclosure rooms in competition cases, November 2016
- Presented on “Agency Agreements in Digital Distribution” at Monckton Chambers conference (organized by Sweet & Maxwell), September 2015
- Panel chair (Competition Law in Digital Markets) at IBC UK Competition Law Conference, February 2016
- Participant at BIICL roundtable on Competition in Pharmaceuticals, March 2016
- Participant at CMA roundtable on Commitments in Competition Enforcement, September 2015
- Participant at CMA roundtable on Vertical Agreements, January 2015
- Participant at CLF roundtable on Competition in Payment Systems, November 2015