Antoine Winckler’s practice focuses on European and French competition law, including cartel investigations, merger control, and market dominance.

He has advised clients in numerous cartel cases, including those relating to cement, copper tubes, seamless steel tubes, paper, elevators, cables and freight forwarding. Antoine has extensive experience representing corporate clients and financial institutions, as well as governments and public entities, regarding EU state aid rules; and he has represented clients in disputes before the European Commission, the European Courts in Luxembourg, the French Competition Authority and the Court of Appeals in Paris.

Antoine joined the firm in 1985, became a partner in 1992, and became senior counsel in 2023. Prior to joining Cleary, he was an administrative judge.

Notable Experience

  • Alstom before the European Commission and multiple other antitrust agencies in its acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, creating a global mobility leader with €75 billion in backlog.

  • Thales on the global merger control aspects of its €4.8 billion acquisition of Gemalto, including the divestment of its General Purpose Hardware Security Module business to Entrust Datacard.

  • Veolia on the antitrust aspects of its successful €12.9 billion acquisition of Suez, and the €10.4 billion related divestment of certain Suez remedy assets.

  • Volvo before the European Commission in the creation of a joint venture with Daimler in the hydrogen fuel-cell sector.

  • Kärcher in successfully obtaining dismissal of the French Competition Authority’s retail price maintenance claims against it.

  • PAI Partners and its portfolio company R&R Ice Cream Plc. in connection with the formation of a joint venture with Nestlé S.A.

  • Autoliv in the context of the EU Commission’s investigation into automotive occupant safety systems.

  • CANAL+ in its proposed partnership with beIN SPORTS, through an exclusive distribution agreement and sublicense agreement.

  • Whirlpool in the context of an investigation of the French Competition Authority into the French major appliances sector.

  • 3M France in its successful defense before the Paris Court of Appeals against a follow-on action alleging abuse of a dominant position.

  • Ahlstrom in successfully securing the closing of a European Commission infringement proceeding concerning provision of information in the context of the merger of Ahlstrom’s and Munksjö’s abrasive paper backing businesses.

  • Airbus in the acquisition of Arianespace, Europe’s space launch services provider, by Airbus Safran Launchers, a joint venture between Airbus and rocket-motor manufacturer Safran; and in the European Commission’s investigation of the MRO sector.

  • Citigroup in the European Commission’s investigation into the setting of Libor benchmark rates.

  • DP World in its acquisition of Cosmos Agencia Maritima for $315.7 million.

  • Electricité de France (EdF) on an arbitration involving the sale of its shareholding in EnBW to the State of Baden-Württemberg.

  • Hachette (part of the Lagardère group)  in the successful settlement with the European Commission regarding its investigation into alleged agreements between several publishing houses and retailers for the sale of e-books.

  • J-Power Systems in securing a 45% fine reduction in the European Commission’s investigation into the power cable market.

  • KME/SMI before the European Court of Justice in connection with European cartel investigations in the copper tube sector and regarding its constitutional complaint against the service of U.S. class action complaints.

  • Lafarge on the global antitrust aspects of its industry-transforming merger with Holcim.

  • Lagardère as intervenor in a successful appeal before the European Court of Justice concerning access to documents in a merger control proceeding.

  • LG Display in an appeal before the European Court of Justice against the General Court's judgment upholding the European Commission's decision fining a number of companies for participating in the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel cartel.

  • Otis Elevator Company and United Technologies Corporation in the appeal before the European Court of Justice against a European Commission decision imposing fines for cartel infringement in the elevator/escalator sector.

  • Rosneft on the EU antitrust aspects of its $55 billion acquisition of TNK-BP, a joint venture between BP and AAR (a consortium of Russian billionaires).

  • Schneider Electric before the European Court of Justice in an appeal by the European Commission of the Court of First Instance's decision ordering for the first time ever the Euroepan Commission to compensate for the consequences of a merger-prohibition decision that was found to be illegal. Cleary Gottlieb won the ground-breaking damage claim against the European Commission following the prohibition of its merger with Legrand in 2001.

  • Swissport on the EU antitrust aspects of their successful acquisition of leading ground handling company Servisiair.

See More

SELECTED ACTIVITIES

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  • Member, International Bar Association
  • Member, Association des Juristes Européens
  • Visiting Professor, Institut des Sciences Politiques, Paris
  • Member, European Competition Lawyers Forum

Publications

March 2024 - “Labor Market Guardian: How Can Antitrust Ensure Fair Competition on Labor Markets?,” Zeitschrift für Wettbewerbsrecht.

The Dominance and Monopolies Review – 11th Edition

April 2023 - “The European Commission Simplifies Its Merger Control Review Process,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog

April 2023 - “Towercast: EU Court of Justice Endorses Post-Closing Review of Concentrations,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo.

July 2022 - The Dominance and Monopolies Review – 10th Edition.

November 2021 - “Gun Jumping in M&A: General Court Judgment Affirms Strict Approach in Altice”.

July 2021 - “France,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 9.

February 2021 - “The EU Commission Unconditionally Clears a Fuel-Cell Joint Venture Aiming to Achieve Climate-Neutral and Sustainable Transportation (Volvo/Daimler),” Concurrences.

August 2020 - “France,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 8.

August 2019 - “France,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 7.

June 2019 - “Competition Policy and European Champions,” La Revue des Juristes de Sciences Po.

April 2019 - “Which competition and industrial policies for the new EU Commission after Siemens/Alstom: A competition policy agenda for the next Commission,” Revue Des Droits de la Concurrence.

July 2018 - “France,” The Dominance and Monopolies Review – Edition 6.

July 2018 - “Compliance: Between Cooperation and Control,” Revue Internationale de la Compliance et de l’éthique des Affaires.

June 2018 - “EU Merger Control Standstill Obligation – EY Judgment,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo (with Asa S. Hallsdottir).

January 8, 2018 - “Online Sales of Luxury Goods in Selective Distribution Networks – Coty Judgment,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo.

January 2018 - “How Still is Standstill?” Europäisches, deutsches und internationales Kartellrecht, Otto Schmidt.

August 2017 - “France” by Antoine Winckler, Frédéric de Bure and Esther Bitton, The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, August 2017, p. 137-159 (Chapter 10).

June 2014 - “France” by Antoine Winckler, François Brunet and Frédéric de Bure, The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, June 2014, p. 129-145 (Chapter 9).

November 2013 - “Selected Issues Raised by Recent Cartel Fines Decisions,” Competition Policy International (with FC Laprevote).

June 2013 - “France” by Antoine Winckler, François Brunet and Frédéric de Bure, The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, June 2013, p. 99-116 (Chapter 7).

June 7, 2011 - “Parent’s Liability : New Case Extending the Presumption of Liability of a Parent Company for the Conduct of its Wholly Owned Subsidiary,” Journal of European Competition Law & Practice.

May 2011 - “Parental Liability,” Journal of European Competition Law and Practice.

March 2011 - Republishing of “When the Watchman Must Take the Wheel – State Aid Control Contyrol of Financial Institutions and Other Political Imperatives During the Economic Crisis,” Max Planck Institute Publication.

November 2010 - “Reoffending and European Competition Law: A Special Law?” Concurrences.

October 1, 2010 - “Transparency and EC Merger Regulation,” Revue Lamy de la Concurrence.

2009 – No. 2 - “When the Watchman Must Take the Wheel – State Aid Control Contyrol of Financial Institutions and Other Political Imperatives During the Economic Crisis,”Concurrences - Trends with FC Laprevote).

September 1, 2009 - “Failing Firm Defense: An Acknowledgment in the Crisis?” Revue Lamy de la Concurrence.

Summer 2008 (July –September) - “Concentrations et champions nationaux: du nouveau sur l’article 21 du Régulation sur les concentrations,” Revue Lamy de la Concurrence.

Events