Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Brussels)

Frederic Depoortere

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Brussels)
Partner

Frederic Depoortere is a partner at Skadden and is based in their Brussels office. He has more than 20 years of experience in merger control both in the EU and internationally. During his career, Frederic Depoortere has been involved in some of the most high-profile and complex merger control cases, including for clients such as Air Canada, Konecranes plc, Willis Towers Watson plc, NCR Corporation, Red Hat, Inc., Rockwell Collins, General Electric Company, Dupont, Merck and Nokia Corporation. He also deals with general EU competition law and compliance issues relating to cartels, vertical restraints and dominance. In 2021, Mr. Depoortere was named Competition Lawyer of the Year by Benchmark Litigation’s Europe Awards and also was named a Litigation Star for Belgium - Competition/Antitrust by the same publication. He also was named 2023 Lawyer of the Year for Competition/Antitrust Law in Brussels by Best Lawyers. He repeatedly has been selected for inclusion in Chambers Global and is highly regarded in Chambers Europe. Frederic Depoortere also repeatedly has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal: Competition and was named a 2022 Global Elite Thought Leader by the publication.

Distinctions

Linked authors

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (London)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (London)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (London)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (New York)
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Brussels)

Videos

Frederic Depoortere - Antitrust law and policies from Brussels to Washington D.C.: The Atlantic divide
Frederic Depoortere 16 October 2015 Bruxelles

Articles

28251 Bulletin

Giorgio Motta, Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Aurora Luoma, Ingrid Vandenborre, Niels Baeten The EU Commission starts implementing the mandatory notification obligations under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation

361

Starting today, October 12, 2023, the mandatory notification requirements under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) apply. M&A deals involving businesses that (i) have been granted certain levels of financial support from non-EU governments and (ii) meet prescribed financial (...)

Giorgio Motta, Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Aurora Luoma, Ingrid Vandenborre, Niels Baeten, Simon Dodd The EU Commission implements the Foreign Subsidies Regulation that allows it to investigate and remedy subsidies received from third countries that may harm the internal market

95

On 12 July 2023, the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) enters into force. The FSR allows the European Commission (EC) to investigate and remedy subsidies received from non-EU countries that distort the EU internal market. The FSR introduces a new merger review regime, separate from and (...)

Bill Batchelor, Aurora Luoma, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre The UK Government proposes to hand the Competition Authority new broad powers to boost competition in digital markets

150

On April 25, 2023, the UK Government published its long-awaited Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (Bill) which, among other things, introduces a new ex ante regulatory regime for digital markets. The Bill largely follows the Spring 2022 proposals made in the government’s (...)

Bill Batchelor, Aurora Luoma, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre The UK Government introduces the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill to revamp the merger control regime for the digital age

102

On 25 April 2023, the UK government published the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (Bill), which will introduce wide-ranging amendments to the UK competition and consumer law regimes that expand the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and significantly alter (...)

Ingrid Vandenborre, Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Aurora Luoma, Giorgio Motta The EU Parliament publishes the Digital Markets Act in the Official Journal, creating new regulatory regime for large tech platforms

48

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 12 October 2022. The legislation, which regulates large technology platforms, enters into force on 1 November 2022 (20 days after publication) and the notification and review process by which the (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Aurora Luoma, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Niels Baeten, Angelos Vlazakis The EU Parliament steps up enforcement against foreign state-backed companies

175

If you (i) receive some form of financial support from foreign (non-EU) governments, and (ii) have activities or are planning to acquire a business in the EU, then you will want to read on. Following political agreement among legislators, the European Union (EU) Foreign Subsidies Regulation (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Aurora Luoma, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Thorsten Goetz, Antonio Adriano Cammalleri, David Maximilian Goldblatt, Melissa Healy The EU Commission and UK Parliament revamp antitrust rules on distribution arrangements in new Vertical Block Exemption Rules

119

EU and UK Revamp Antitrust Rules on Distribution Arrangements* Significantly updated antitrust rules governing common distribution practices took effect in both the European Union and U.K. on June 1, 2022. These constitute a significant change in policy and provide greater clarity to (...)

Bill Batchelor, Aurora Luoma, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Frederic Depoortere The UK Parliament revamps antitrust rules with broader jurisdictional reach, tougher penalties and more flexible procedure for merger control

373

On April 20, 2022, the U.K. government announced amendments to the U.K. competition and consumer law regimes. Changes to merger control include: Expanded conditions for killer acquisitions, which will eliminate the need for a U.K. overlap in acquirer and target activities intended to cover (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre The EU Commission proposes for public comment its new competitor cooperation guidelines which are tougher on information sharing but provide scope for sustainability agreements

289

The European Commission (Commission) is accepting public comment on its proposed revisions to European Union regulations and guidance on common competitor cooperation arrangements, which are due to expire on 31 December 2022. Cooperation agreements among existing or potential competitors (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Geraldine De Vasconcelos Lopes, Adriano Di Curzio, Vikram J. Pandit The EU General Court annuls the Commission’s decision which found that a semiconductor chip manufacturer had abused its dominant position and imposed a fine of €1.06B (Intel)

390

On January 26, 2022, the EU General Court (the Court) annulled the European Commission’s (the Commission) decision that Intel had abused its dominant position regarding its x86 central processing unit (CPU) computer chips and the imposition of a €1.06 billion fine. The judgment demonstrates (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Aurora Luoma, Hannah Street The UK Competition Authority fines a Big Tech company for breaching an order to hold separate an acquisition target pending its review of the merger (Facebook / Giphy)

336

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Facebook £50.5 million for breaching an order to hold separate its acquisition target, Giphy, pending the CMA’s review of the merger. Takeaways The U.K. merger control regime allows acquirers the flexibility to close prior to completion (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, Stéphane Dionnet, Geraldine De Vasconcelos Lopes, Giorgio Motta The EU General Court upholds the Commission’s decision to fine a telecommunications company for gun jumping but grants a limited 5% reduction of part of the €124.5 million fine imposed (Altice / PT Portugal)

301

On September 22, 2021, the European General Court issued its judgment upholding the decision by the European Commission (Commission) to fine Altice for gun-jumping in the acquisition of Portugal Telecom (PT) in 2015. The General Court did grant Altice a limited 5% reduction of part of the (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, Stéphane Dionnet, Geraldine De Vasconcelos Lopes, Giorgio Motta The EU General Court issues its judgment upholding the Commission’s decision to fine a telecommunications company for gun jumping (Altice / PT Portugal)

259

On September 22, 2021, the European General Court issued its judgment upholding the decision by the European Commission (Commission) to fine Altice for gun jumping in the acquisition of Portugal Telecom (PT) in 2015. The General Court did grant Altice a limited 5% reduction of part of the (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, Aurora Luoma, Nick Wolfe, Giorgio Motta The UK Government publishes consultations on far-reaching reforms to competition and consumer laws which would substantially expand the powers of the Competition Authority and reduce procedural protections

717

The U.K. government is consulting on far-reaching reforms to U.K. competition and consumer laws, which would substantially expand the powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and reduce procedural protections. Key proposals include: Merger control jurisdiction enlarged: The CMA (...)

Bill Batchelor, Ingrid Vandenborre, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta The EU Commission and UK Competition Authority propose modifications to their antitrust rules on distribution agreements which diverge significantly, creating legal challenges for agreements caught by both sets of rules

254

1. Summary The European Union and the United Kingdom have each proposed modifications of their antitrust rules on distribution. The proposals diverge significantly on common distribution practices, creating legal challenges for distribution agreements caught by both sets of rules. Dual (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Andrew Foster, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Aurora Luoma, Niels Baeten The EU Commission proposes a new merger and public procurement control legislation to combat foreign subsidies

559

The European Commission (EC) has proposed legislation to curb M&A, public procurement and market conduct by foreign-subsidized companies that may distort the European Union’s internal market. New requirements include: Mandatory notification of acquisitions where the target’s EU turnover (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Niels Baeten The EU Commission releases the new Article 22 EU Merger Regulation Guidance, which creates legal uncertainty for merger control and a de facto killer acquisition review power

1690

The new Article 22 EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) Guidance released by the European Commission (EC) enables the EC to review any acquisition, even those that do not qualify for notification under national (or EU) merger control rules. Summary The new guidance indicates that the EC will (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Alexander Kamp The EU Commission invites national regulators to refer certain transactions back to the Commission if they do not meet either national or EU thresholds for investigation

59

Takeaways More than 50 countries now have the discretion to conduct competition reviews of mergers below mandatory notification thresholds, and the European Commission, EU member states, the U.K. and others are using this authority more frequently. As a consequence, companies whose merger (...)

Alexander Kamp, Aurora Luoma, Giorgio Motta, Frederic Depoortere, Bill Batchelor, Ingrid Vandenborre, Iacovos Antoniou The UK Competition Authority publishes the revised Merger Assessment Guidelines

383

The U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has released new merger assessment guidelines that confirm the U.K. regulator’s intensified approach to merger control. The guidelines largely codify the CMA’s recent output, which includes record-high numbers of prohibitions and deal (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Aurora Luoma, Nick Wolfe, Alexander Kamp, Tom R. Selwyn Sharpe The UK Parliament issues an independent report which calls for streamlining and enhanced legal predictability in the national antitrust regime

370

Commissioned by the U.K. government to review its antitrust regime, Conservative Member of Parliament John Penrose’s “Power to the People” report proposes streamlined, modest changes rather than wholesale reform to the current regime. The report’s recommendations are outlined below: Merger (...)

Nick Wolfe, James Anderson, Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Aurora Luoma, Alexander Kamp The EU Commission and the UK Government publish an agreement governing post-Brexit trade relations that includes provisions regulating antitrust enforcement and cooperation

457

The European Union (EU)-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) governing post-Brexit trade relations between the U.K. and the EU includes provisions regulating EU/U.K. antitrust enforcement and cooperation effective January 1, 2021: Anticompetitive practices and mergers. The TCA provides (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Aurora Luoma, Nick Wolfe, Tom R. Selwyn Sharpe The UK Competition Authority launches consultation on revised merger assessment guidelines

118

Following its review of a series of global deals in the digital markets space, the U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority (the CMA) has launched a consultation on revised merger assessment guidelines (the draft guidelines) codifying its evolving practice in the digital sector and (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Aurora Luoma, Aristeidis Demiroglou, Caroline Janssens The EU Commission calls for contributions on the fundamental question of how competition rules and sustainability policies interact with each other, and what can be done better

214

Sustainability issues are increasingly high on the list of competition policy priorities both at the European Union and member state levels. The European Commission (EC) and national competition authorities are actively rethinking how competition policy can better support the transition to (...)

Niels Baeten, Ingrid Vandenborre, Giorgio Motta, Frederic Depoortere, Bill Batchelor The EU Commission proposes new powers of investigation, sanction, control on mergers, market conduct, and public contracts to combat foreign subsidies

193

The European Commission (EC) has proposed far-reaching new powers to investigate and sanction foreign subsidies that have allegedly distortive effects on the European Union’s (EU) internal market. The proposals include: (i) mandatory notification of acquisitions, including potentially (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Niels Baeten The EU Commission proposes a merger control legislation for the acquisition of foreign-subsidized companies

123

The European Commission’s (EC) June 2020 white paper proposing wide-ranging controls over foreign-subsidized companies’ access to Europe’s internal market has received fresh impetus. In a report issued earlier this month, the European Union’s (EU) audit body faulted the EC for a hitherto (...)

Ingrid Vandenborre, Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta The EU Commission delays merger notifications until further notice and develops emergency State aid response to the COVID-19 outbreak

163

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads rapidly around the world, and countries take unprecedented measures to contain the spread of the disease, businesses are increasingly struggling with the economic impact of this crisis. While airlines, tour operators and event businesses have been among the (...)

Alexander Kamp, Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Nick Wolfe The UK Competition Authority publishes its guidance on its functions under the withdrawal agreement setting out the regulator’s approach during the Brexit transition period

117

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published “Guidance on the Functions of the CMA Under the Withdrawal Agreement” (Guidance), which sets out the regulator’s approach to merger and competition cases during the Brexit transition period that will run until at least through (...)

Melissa Healy, Ingrid Vandenborre, Giorgio Motta, Frederic Depoortere, Bill Batchelor The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal confirms a deferential standard for the Competition Authority in its merger prohibitions (Tobii / Smartbox)

245

A recent decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), Tobii AB (publ) v. Competition and Markets Authority, confirms a deferential standard for the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in its merger prohibitions. The CMA is widely regarded as a thought leader among merger (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Thorsten Goetz The EU Commission publishes a report authored by three prominent advisers which recommends vigorous enforcement and adjustments to established concepts in the digital sector

58

On April 4, 2019, the European Commission published a report prepared by three special advisers (the Advisers) appointed by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager to explore how EU competition policy should evolve in the digital age. In the report, the three authors, all academics, (...)

Bill Batchelor, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Thorsten Goetz, Ingrid Vandenborre The UK FCA issues its first antitrust decision and fines several companies for sharing strategic information during an initial public offering (Hargreave / Newton / RAMAM)

203

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued its first antitrust decision since obtaining competition law powers four years ago. The decision is a controversial one. It sets the FCA up as a strict enforcer on the type of information that competing investors can share when making (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Michael J. Frese, Simon Baxter The EU Court of Justice deals a blow to the EU Commission’s power to close antitrust investigations with commitment decisions by ruling that they do not preclude national courts from examining whether agreements comply with antitrust rules (Gasorba / Repsol)

837

On November 23, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) dealt a blow to the European Commission’s (Commission) power to close antitrust investigations with commitment decisions, with its ruling in Case C-547/16 Gasorba et al. v. Repsol. The Court of Justice ruled (...)

Alex Jupp, Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, James Anderson, Jonathon Egerton-Peters, Niels Baeten The EU Commission opens an in-depth investigation into UK statutory rules exempting some financing incomes earned by foreign subsidiaries

423

On 26 October 2017, the European Commission (the Commission) opened an in-depth investigation into UK statutory rules that exempt certain financing income earned by foreign subsidiaries of UK corporate taxpayers from UK tax. The Commission’s investigation will focus on whether the UK (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Giorgio Motta, Ingrid Vandenborre, Simon Baxter The EU Court of Justice quashes a judgment of the General Court that upheld a fine of €1.06 billion for an abuse of dominance due to implementing loyalty rebates based on exclusivity agreements (Intel)

932

On September 6, 2017 ,the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) quashed the 2014 judgment of the General Court (GC) that upheld a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel Corporation Inc. (Intel) for abusing a dominant market position by implementing loyalty rebates based on (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, Simon Baxter The German Competition Authority initiates proceedings against a social network company regarding potential abuse of dominance (Facebook)

417

The German Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) has announced that it has initiated proceedings against Facebook for the company’s alleged abuse of its dominant position in a market for social networks. The FCO appears to be taking the position that, as a firm with a possibly dominant position, (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, Simon Baxter The Chinese MOFCOM cracks down on failures to notify qualifying mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures (FJEI / FPID) (Nanjing Puzhen / Bombardier Sweden) (BestTv / Microsoft)

764

This article has been nominated for the 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. China’s Anti-Monopoly Law requires businesses to notify transactions to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) for merger control review, so long as the parties (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, James S. Venit, Simon Baxter The EU General Court upholds in its entirety the Commission’s decision imposing a fine on a microprocessor manufacturer for abusing a dominant position in the market for desktop and laptop microprocessors (Intel)

882

In a long-awaited judgment issued on June 12, 2014, the General Court upheld in its entirety the European Commission’s May 13, 2009, decision imposing a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel for abusing a dominant position in the market for x86 CPUs. In particular, the court upheld the (...)

Frederic Depoortere The European Commission issues revised best practices for the submission of economic evidence and data collection in competition cases - Questions on early data gathering in merger cases

363

Economic evidence and analysis at the early stages of EU merger control proceedings* “In appropriate cases, DG Competition may discuss in advance with the addressees or other affected parties the scope and the format of the Data Request. DG Competition may also explain the analysis that it (...)

Frederic Depoortere The EU Commission clears in phase I a merger in the silicon sector after examining possible coordination of Chinese State-owned companies’ market behavior by the Chinese State (China National Bluestar / Elkem)

743

How to deal with Chinese State-owned Enterprises under the EUMR?* On 13 September, the Commission published its decision of 31 March 2011 in China National Bluestar/Elkem. After DSM/Sinochem/JV (decision of 10 May but published in June), this was the second published decision which dealt in (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, James S. Venit, Simon Baxter The EU General Court confirms fine imposed by the Commission for abuse of dominant position in the market for reverse-vending machines (RVM) used to collect used beverage containers focusing on exclusive agreements and loyalty-based rebates (Tomra)

462

On September 9, 2010, the General Court of the EU (the Court) issued its judgment in Tomra vs. Commission (Case T-155/06), dismissing an appeal brought by Tomra against a European Commission decision imposing a €24 million fine for abuse of its dominant position in Germany, Austria, Sweden, (...)

Frederic Depoortere The EU Commission clears two mergers in the air and sea transport sector addressing the issue of pre-existing cooperation agreements (Iberia / British Airways - DFDS / Norfolk)

423

The power of pre-existing agreements* In two recent decisions, the Commission considered the impact of cooperation agreements that the notifying parties had entered into before the notified transaction and came to two different conclusions. In Iberia/British Airways (decision of 14 July (...)

Frederic Depoortere The EU General Court refuses to order interim measures in a case involving the air transportation sector and addresses issues on the implementation of a concentration and the powers of the Commission under the EU Merger Regulation 139/2004 (Ryanair / Aer Lingus)

507

The Aer Lingus Judgment – When non-implementation is implementation, or not* On 6 July 2010, the General Court rejected Ryanair’s appeal against the Commission’s 2007 prohibition of its hostile take-over of rival Irish airline Aer Lingus. On the same day, the Court also issued a much shorter (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Ingrid Vandenborre, James S. Venit, Simon Baxter The EU General Court imposes a high burden on the Commission to refuse access to its confidential records (Editions Odile Jacob)

244

On June 9, 2010, the EU’s General Court (Court) issued its judgment on an appeal by Editions Odile Jacob (EOJ) against a decision by the European Commission (the Commission) refusing to disclose certain documents relating to the Commission’s review under the EC Merger Regulation of the (...)

Frederic Depoortere, Gary A. MacDonald, Ian G. John, Joseph F. Ciani-Dausch The US FTC and DoJ release for public comment a draft version of their new joint horizontal merger guidelines offering the opportunity to debate about the role of market definition and unilateral effects analysis

349

As the credit and capital markets continue to revive, companies around the world considering a return to greater mergers and acquisitions activity may be right to wonder whether recent antitrust law developments should deter those considerations. Notwithstanding the attention the various new (...)

Frederic Depoortere The EU Commission clears in phase I a merger in the internet search market while addressing the concept of concentration and conducting a detailed two-sided market analysis (Microsoft / Yahoo!)

709

Microsoft/Yahoo! – the concept of a concentration* The Commission’s recent decision approving Microsoft’s acquisition of Yahoo!’s Search Business (including internet search and search advertising) contains an interesting application of the definition of a concentration under the Merger (...)

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