Max Klasse is partner in the antitrust and competition law group of BLOMSTEIN (Berlin, Germany). Max focuses on all aspects of German and European antitrust and competition, EU state aid and merger control law. In the area of antitrust, he advises companies in relation to internal investigations, cartel proceedings, compliance and behavioural matters. He is very experienced in getting deals through merger control, including in complicated cases with remedy packages. In State aid he represents both companies and State authorities before the EU courts. Max has particular experience in the following sectors: pharmaceuticals, media and telecoms, and FMCG as well as general industries. He is regularly ranked as “one of the world’s leading competition experts” in Who’s Who Legal: Competition. He is recommended by The Legal 500 and listed in Chambers Europe for Competition/European Law. Max is also among the few Who’s Who Legal leading State aid lawyers in Germany.
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The Higher Regional Court of Berlin (Kammergericht, “KG”) ruled that certain exclusivity rebates – so-called ‘list-first’ rebates – granted by real estate portal Immoscout violate German competition law (Case No. U 4/21 Kart). The Immoscout case was decided on the basis of the so-called (...)
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DÜSSELDORF HIGHER REGIONAL COURT ACQUITS BREWERIES IN KÖLSCH BEER CARTEL CASE (Kölsch-Kartell) On 8. September 2021, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court cleared three Kölsch breweries and two of their managing directors of price fixing (case number V-4 Kart 4/16 OWi), overturning fines (...)
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Background of the Case CTS Eventim intended to acquire 51% of stakes each in the two companies Four Artists Booking Agentur GmbH and Four Artists Events GmbH. The successful acquisition would have bound all of Four Artist’s ticket sales (around 700,000 per year) to CTS Eventim and would have (...)
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In its judgement of 10 December 2019, the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) found that ad blocking can constitute an abuse of a dominant position by the ad blocker provider. The decision marks another milestone in the ad blocker saga. Following a series of lower court judgments and a BGH (...)
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The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) imposed a fine of 6.5 million Euros on sausage manufacturer Franz Wiltmann and a fine of 350,000 Euros on a manager of the company for price fixing with other sausage producers. Agreement on the timing of price increases According to (...)
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Background The Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (“Philips”) is the holder of a patent which is essential for the production of recordable and rewritable compact discs (CD-R and CD-RW discs). Use of the patent cannot be avoided in the production of CD-R or CD-RW discs and Philips has (...)
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Background Against the background of increasing global financial turmoil, three major concentrations involving six large German banks (as well as the largest German insurance company) were submitted to the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt - FCO) for clearance between November (...)
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Background and Decision On 22 January 2009, the District Court of Dortmund (Landgericht Dortmund) granted injunctive relief to a German show jumper who resided in the Netherlands and was an employee of a Dutch horse riding stable. He was also riding his own horses and was n° 13 of the global (...)
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Background Praktiker, one of the leading DIY groups in Germany and Europe, pursues a dual distribution strategy via company owned stores and (few) franchises. The franchise contracts foresaw an exclusive sourcing obligation pursuant to which the franchisees had to source their entire demand (...)
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Background In October 2007, Shell notified its envisaged acquisition of six petrol stations in Eastern Germany to the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO). The seller was Hanseatic Petrol Vertriebs GmbH (HPV), that, under the brand name GO (for Germania Oil) owns a network of 130 petrol (...)
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Background In February 2006, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) found that Soda Club, a manufacturer of home soda makers, had abused its dominant position by requiring customers and dealers to have the carbon dioxide cartridges used in the soda makers refilled solely by Soda Club. The (...)
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Background In March 2005, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) for the first time blocked a hospital merger. The case concerned the acquisition of the district hospital in Bad Neustadt by Rhön-Klinikum AG , one of the largest privately held German hospital operators with more than 40 (...)
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Background The market for mobile television is still at an early stage of the development. In Germany, different mobile TV standards have undergone test phases but until now no German-wide system is in operation. Already in 2006, three major mobile phone network operators T-Mobile, (...)
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Background In January 2006, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited the merger of Axel Springer AG (Springer) with ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG (ProSiebenSat.1). The merger would have combined the biggest German newspaper publisher and the biggest private TV group in Germany besides (...)
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Background The cosmetics chain The Body Shop (TBS) employs two different types of distribution channels in Germany: On the one hand, it holds a number of proprietary retail outlets and, on the other hand, it distributes its products through a franchise system. Under the franchise system the (...)
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Introduction The Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has issued two revised information leaflets providing for guidance with regard to the application of both European and German competition law by the FCO: (1.) The new notice on agreements of minor importance (“de minimis notice”) and (2.) the new (...)
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Information Exchange and Related Risks - A Jurisdictional Guide
