Michael Holzhäuser is a partner with Ashurst in Frankfurt. He advises clients on all aspects of EU and German antitrust/competition law. As well as having strong compliance and multi-jurisdictional merger control experience, his practice also focuses on defending companies in international antitrust proceedings for cartels or abusive practices before the German and European cartel authorities and courts. In addition, he specialises in the defence of companies in private follow-on cartel damages claims. Michael’s practice also includes advising enterprises on their commercial agreements (e.g. distribution systems, R&D-license, JV- or specialisation agreements) as well as in regulatory and EU-law matters.. Prior to joining Ashurst he was a partner at DLA Piper Dr.. Holzhäuser has headed the German Antitrust and Competition Practice of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP.
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On 18 January 2022 and 25 January 2022, the German Federal Cartel Office ("FCO") published two press releases which provide guidance on the conditions under which sustainability goals in cooperation agreements between competitors may be sufficient to exempt such agreements from the prohibition (...)
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In a decision of 6 July 2021, published in September 2021, the German Federal Court of Justice ("FCJ") ruled that restrictive clauses in retail and service agreements between Porsche and its authorised distributors were in breach of competition law. Porsche could not prohibit its authorised (...)
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On 12 April 2021, the German competition authority ("FCO") closed its investigation against Liebherr, a producer of household appliances, without a fine after Liebherr agreed to abandon or amend certain clauses in its newly introduced distribution model which, in the FCO’s view, discriminated (...)
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On 26 February 2021, the German Federal Cartel Office ("FCO") closed its six-year investigation into Deutsche Post AG ("DPAG") after securing commitments in connection with practices relating to the dispatch of newspapers and magazines. The FCO suspected that DPAG had abused its dominant (...)
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In a decision of 10 February 2021, published at the end of April 2021, the German Federal Court of Justice ("FCJ") ruled in a private damages claim action concerning the German track cartel that lump-sum cartel damages clauses of 5% (as in the case at hand) and, more generally, of up to 15% (...)
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On 19 January 2021, a major amendment to the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen, "GWB") – the so-called "GWB Digitisation Act – entered into force. The amendment pursues two major objectives : to create a regulatory framework for competition in the (...)
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In a decision of 23 September 2020, published early January 2021, the German Federal Court of Justice ("BGH") rejected a follow-on damages claim filed against Daimler in relation to the European Commission’s ("Commission") Trucks decision. This is the first time that the highest German civil (...)
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Sector inquiry launched into the Internet of Things On 16 July 2020, the European Commission ("Commission") launched an antitrust competition inquiry into the sector of Internet of Things ("IoT") for consumer-related products and services in the EU. The inquiry complements other actions (...)
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On 8 July 2020, The German Lower Regional Court of Dortmund ("Court") recently handed down its ruling regarding follow-on damages against a specialist wholesale company for sanitary and heating products. Damages were sought following a fine of the German Federal Cartel Office ("FCO") relating (...)
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The spread of the SARS Cov-2 virus ("Covid 19 pandemic") is not limited to health consequences. Due to the necessary restrictions imposed throughout Europe, the health crisis has caused an economic turmoil. The demand for goods has dropped dramatically and supply chains are interrupted. (...)
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On 19 February 2020, the European Commission ("Commission") published a Communication on shaping Europe’s digital future ("Digital Future Communication") together with a Communication on a European data strategy ("Data Strategy"), which contain a number of statements relating to EU competition (...)
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On 28 January 2020, the German Federal Court of Justice ("FCJ"), handed down another highly relevant decision in the field of cartel damages, which has been published on 16 March 2020 (case KZR 24/17). In its decision the FCJ deals with the respective requirements regarding the condition of (...)
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On 21 November 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office ("FCO") issued fines totalling approximately €100 million on BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen for joint anti-competitive practices concerning the purchase of long-steel products. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - KEY TAKEAWAYS In 2018, the FCO imposed (...)
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On 26 August 2019, the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf suspended the German Federal Cartel Office’s (’FCO’ or Bundeskartellamt) decision to prevent Facebook from combining user data from various sources such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and unrelated sites that use Facebook analytics and (...)
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This article has been nominated for the 2012 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. On 14 June 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down a key judgment regarding the interplay between national leniency programmes and the right of (...)
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