Nicholas Levy’s practice focuses on EU and UK antitrust law.

Consistently recognized by Chambers as one of the leading antitrust lawyers in Europe, Nicholas was named Global Competition Review’s “Dealmaker of the Year” in 2015.

He has extensive experience in notifying mergers and joint ventures under the EU Merger Regulation, coordinating the notification of international transactions, and advising on all aspects of antitrust law, including anti-cartel enforcement, collaborative arrangements, vertical agreements, and unilateral conduct.

Nicholas joined the firm in 1990 and became a partner in 1999.

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Notable Experience

  • Abbott Laboratories on its acquisitions of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, St. Jude Medical, and Alere.

  • AbbVie on its acquisition of Pharmacyclics and Syndesi.

  • BASF in its successful appeal of a European Commission cartel decision.

  • Caterpillar on a landmark appeal to the General Court of a European Commission decision concerning its distribution system.

  • Celanese in connection with a European Commission investigation into the ethylene sector.

  • Chemours on a successfully concluded European Commission antitrust investigation into a collaboration with Honeywell.

  • The Coca-Cola Company on its landmark settlement with the European Commission and transactions with Cadbury Schweppes, Carlsberg, Illy, Nestlé, and Fresh Trading.

  • DuPont on transactions involving ICI, Hoechst, Sabanci, Agfa, Teijin, Dow, and others.

  • Ecolab in its challenge to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal of a decision of the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

  • Euronext in its acquisition of Borsa Italiana and contemplated transactions with the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse.

  • General Mills on the sale of its Yoplait business to Sodiaal.

  • Goodyear on its acquisition of Sumitomo’s Dunlop tire business.

  • Google in the European Commission’s investigation into its Android business and appeal to the General Court.

  • HCA in its successful challenge to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal of a decision of the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

  • Heinz on a successfully concluded European antitrust investigation.

  • IMS Health (now IQVIA) on its landmark appeal of a European Commission decision and transactions with Cegedim and Quintiles.

  • Johnson Controls on its combination with Tyco.

  • Lafarge on a UK joint venture with Anglo American and its merger with Holcim.

  • Molson Coors on its acquisition of assets from AB InBev and SABMiller.

  • Recticel on a European Commission cartel investigation.

  • Ryanair on its then-proposed acquisition of, and minority shareholding in, Aer Lingus and its acquisition of Lauda Europe.

  • Sembcorp Marine on its merger with Keppel Corp’s offshore and marine unit.

  • Sony in the formation of SONY BMG, its acquisitions of EMI Music Publishing, The Orchard, AWAL, and Bungie; Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard; and a European Commission investigation into its optical disk drives business.

  • UTC on General Electric’s then-proposed acquisition of Honeywell.

  • Walgreens Boots Alliance on a transaction with AmerisourceBergen Corp.

  • The Walt Disney Company in connection with a UK investigation into the pay-TV sector.

  • Veolia in its acquisition of Suez.

  • Verisure on an antitrust investigation by the Norwegian Competition Authority.

  • Whirlpool in the sale of its Embraco refrigeration compressors business to Nidec and its European major domestic appliance business to Arçelik.

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Selected Activities

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Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School

Publications

Regular host of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review Podcast Series

 “UK National Security Regime: Annual Report 2024 and Observations on Recent Practice,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (September 2024)

Lexology’s In Depth: Merger Control – European Union, July 23, 2024

“UK Government Publishes Updated Guidance on the Application of the National Security and Investment Act,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (May 2024)

“UK Government Considers Changes to National Security and Investment Regime,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (November 2023)

“European Union,” The Merger Control Review, Ed. 14 (August 2023)

“UK National Security Regime: Annual Report 2023 and Observations on Recent Practice,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (July 2023)

“Mergers & Judicial Review: An Overview of EU and National Case Law,” by Nicholas Levy, Concurrences (March 2023)

“General Court Partially Annuls European Commission Decision in Google Android,” by Nicholas Levy, Henry Mostyn, Paul Stuart and Patrick Todd, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (October 2022)

“Illumina/GRAIL: EC Blocks Transaction Below EU and Referring Member State Merger Control Thresholds for the First Time,” by Francisco Enrique González-Díaz, Lydia Bitsakou, Brian Cullen and Nicholas Levy, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (September 2022)

“EU Merger Control,” by Nicholas Levy and Patrick Bock, The Merger Control Review, ed. 13 (August 2022)

“UK” chapter, by Nicholas Levy, Paul Gilbert, Jackie Holland, and Courtney Olden, Chambers Merger Control 2022 Global Practice Guide (August 2022)

“Illumina/Grail: General Court Upholds EC’s Merger Referral Policy, Expanding EC Jurisdiction Over Non-reportable Transactions,” by Nicholas Levy, Andris Rimsa, Chloe Hassard, and Bianca Buzatu, Cleary Antitrust Watch blog (July 2022)

“Wide-Ranging New UK National Security Regime Comes Into Force,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Jackie Holland, Tihir Sarkar, Michael J. Preston, Sam Bagot, Gabriele Antonazzo, Nallini Puri, Michael James, Paul Gilbert, Henry Mostyn, and John Messent, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (January 2022)

“EU Merger Control,” by Nicholas Levy, Patrick Bock, and Esther Kelly, The Merger Control Review, ed. 12 (August 2021)

“Government Consults on ‘Ambitious’ Reform to UK Competition Policy,” by Nicholas Levy, Jackie Holland, Paul Gilbert, Lanto Sheridan, Fay Davies, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (August 2021)

“The EC’s New Merger Referral Policy: A Creative Reform or an Unnecessary End to ‘Brightline’ Jurisdictional Rules?,” The European Competition and Regulatory Law Review (July 2021)

“UK” chapter, by Nicholas Levy, Paul Gilbert, Jackie Holland, and Courtney Olden, Chambers Merger Control 2021 Global Practice Guide (July 2021)

“New UK National Security Regime to Come Into Force in January 2022,” by Maurits Dolmans, Jackie Holland, Tihir Sarkar, Michael J. Preston, Sam Bagot, Gabriele Antonazzo, Nallini Puri, Michael James, Paul Gilbert and John Messent, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (July 2021)

“The UK’s Proposed New National Security Regime: A Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut,” by Nicholas Levy, John Messent, Edward Dean, and Cloe Hassard, Competition Law Journal (April 2021)

“No Reversing Allowed: Trucks Defendants in Follow-on Cases Required to Stand by Their Admissions to the Commission,” by Jonathan Kelly, Nicholas Levy, Paul Gilbert, Paul Stuart and Fay Davies, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (December 2020)

“UK Proposes A Mandatory, Pre-Closing National Security Regime,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Paul Gilbert, Tihir Sarkar, Sam Bagot, Nallini Puri, Richard Pepper, Chase D. Kaniecki, Esther Kelly, John Messent and Courtenay Stock, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (November 2020)

“The Failing Firm Defence in the Age of COVID-19,” by Nicholas Levy, Daniel Culley, Richard Pepper, Alexis Lazda, and Edward Dean, Concurrences, No. 4-2020 (November 2020)

“EU Merger Control,” by Nicholas Levy, Patrick Bock, and Esther Kelly, The Merger Control Review, ed. 11 (October 2020)

“European Commission Announces New Policy to Accept Member State Referrals for Merger Review Even if EC and National Thresholds Are Not Met,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Francisco Enrique González-Díaz, Romina Polley, Patrick Bock, Christopher J. Cook, Séverine Schrameck, Paul Gilbert, Paul Stuart, John Messent, and Dan Tierney, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (October 2020)

“UK Government Prohibits Acquisition of UK Supplier of Military Aircraft Components,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Romano Subiotto, Tihir Sarkar, Michael J. Preston, Sam Bagot, Nallini Puri, Paul Gilbert, Richard Pepper, John Messent, Esther Kelly, and Courtenay Stock, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (September 2020)

“Waiting for Brexit: Five Ways the CMA Could Improve UK Merger Control,” European Competition Law Review (September 2020) 

“UK Trends and Developments,” by Nicholas Levy, Paul Gilbert, and Ricardo Zimbron, Chambers Merger Control 2020 (August 2020)

“European Court Raises the EC’s Bar for Mergers in Concentrated Markets,” by Francisco Enrique González-Díaz, Patrick Bock, Daniel P. Culley, Bernd Langeheine, Richard Pepper, Nicholas Levy, Marco D’Ostuni and Séverine Schrameck, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (July 2020)

“Reforming EU Merger Control to Capture ‘Killer Acquisitions’ – The Case for Caution,” by Nicholas Levy and Henry Mostyn, Competition Law Journal (July 2020)

“UK Government Introduces New Powers to Intervene in Mergers on Public Interest Grounds,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Romano Subiotto, Tihir Sarkar, Michael J. Preston, Sam Bagot, Nallini Puri, Paul Gilbert, Richard Pepper, Paul Stuart and John Messent, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (republished July 2, 2020, by The Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog) (June 2020)

“European Merger Control in Times of Crisis,” by Nicholas Levy, Richard Pepper, Anita Ng, and Géraldine Babin, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (May 2020)

“UK Suspends Elements of its Antitrust Laws and Refocuses Enforcement in Response to COVID-19,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Paul Gilbert, John Messent, Ricardo Zimbron, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (April 2020)

“European Commission Urges Member States to Protect Suppliers of Essential Products From Foreign Takeovers,” by Giuseppe Scassellati-Sforzolini, Nicholas Levy, Michael J. Ulmer, François-Charles Laprévote, Richard Pepper, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (April 2020)

“CMA Ramps Up Merger Control Enforcement Ahead of Brexit,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Paul Gilbert and Ricardo Zimbron, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (February 2020)

“Five Years of Vestager: Reactions From the EU Competition Community,” Global Competition Review (October 2019)

“Global Merger Control – Where to Now?” by Nicholas Levy, Alexander Waksman, and Lanto Sheridan, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement (September 2019)

“Judicial Review of Merger Decisions: An Overview of EU and National Case Law,” by Nicholas Levy, foreword to e-Competitions Special Issue: Mergers Judicial Review (August 2019)

“EU Merger Control,” by Nicholas Levy, Patrick Bock, and Esther Kelly, The Merger Control Review, Tenth Edition (August 2019)

“European Champions – Why Politics Should Stay Out of EU Merger Control,” by Nicholas Levy, David Little, and Henry Mostyn, Concurrences – Revue Des Droits de la Concurrence (April 2019)

“The UK Financial Conduct Authority fines companies sharing strategic information on a bilateral basis during an initial public offering, Hargreave Hale / RAMAM” by Nicholas Levy, Sunil Gadhia, Paul Gilbert, David Little, Vassilena Karadakova, and Jonathan Kelly, Concurrences – Revue Des Droits de la Concurrence (February 2019) 

“FCA Issues First Penalties for Competition Infringements,” by Jonathan Kelly, Sunil Gadhia, Nicholas Levy, James Brady, Paul Gilbert, David R. Little, and Vassilena Karadakova, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (February 2019)

“EU Merger Control,” by Nicholas Levy and Patrick Bock, The Merger Control Review, Ninth Edition (September 2018)

“UK Government Proposes National Security and Investment Regime,” by Nicholas Levy, Maurits Dolmans, Simon Jay, Paul Gilbert, David R. Little, Matthew Hamilton-Foyn, John Messent, and Edward Crane, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (August 2018)

“European Merger Control Law: A Guide to the Merger Regulation,” by Nicholas Levy (annual publication)

“UK Introduces New Thresholds for National Security Mergers,” by Maurits Dolmans, Nick Levy, Romano Subiotto, Paul Gilbert, and David Little, Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum (March 2018)

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

“The EC’s Increasing Reliance on Internal Documents Under the EU Merger Regulation: Issues and Implications,” by Nicholas Levy and Vassilena Karadakova, European Competition Law Review, Issue: January 2018.

“The UK Government Proposes Greater Intervention in National Security and Infrastructure Mergers,” by Maurits Dolmans and Nicholas Levy, e-Competitions, Issue: October 2017-II, Date: October 26, 2017, pp. 1-10.

“EU Merger Control,” by Nicholas Levy and Patrick Bock, The Merger Control Review, Eighth Edition (August 2017)

“The EU Commission fines a company for providing incorrect or misleading information during its investigation on a merger (Facebook / WhatsApp)”, by François-Charles Laprévote, Maurits Dolmans, Thomas Graf, Nicholas Levy, Francisco Enrique González-Díaz and Christopher Cook, e-Competitions, No. 84276, June 2017, pp. 1-4.

“Article 101 and the Merger Regulation: A Single Analytical Framework?,” by Nicholas Levy, The Notion of Restriction of Competition (January 2017)

“A Comparative Assessment of the EU’s Reforms to Merger Control and Antitrust Enforcement,” by Nicholas Levy, Sven Frisch and Alexander Waksman, European Competition Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2-3, pp. 426-464 (January 2016)

“Why Competition Commissioners Should Be Cautious in Commenting Publicly on Active Antitrust Cases,” by Nicholas Levy and Andris Rimsa, European Competition Law Review, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 1-7 (January 2015)

“Expanding EU Merger Control to Non-Controlling Minority Shareholdings: A Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut?,” by Nicholas Levy, CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Vol. 12, No. 1 (December 2014)

“Access to Evidence in UK Merger Inquiries and Market Investigations: A Critical Commentary,” by Nicholas Levy, Paul Stuart and Ian Hastings, European Competition Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 279-310 (August 2014)

“EU Merger Control and Non-Controlling Minority Shareholdings: The Case Against Change,” by Nicholas Levy, European Competition Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 721-753 (December 2013)

“Missing the mark? – The Government’s overhaul of the UK’s Competition Regime,” by Nicholas Levy and Paul Gilbert, Legal Week (September 2011)

Events

October 21, 2024
City & Financial Global M&A Summit 2024

September 13, 2024
51st Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law and Policy

June 21 – 22, 2023
3rd Annual International Antitrust Summer Conference 2023

April 20, 2023
Competition Law Talk (King’s College London)

March 2, 2023
Assessment of Non-horizontal Mergers in (Digital) Markets

January 27, 2023
Brussels School of Competition Lectures: EU Merger Control

January 13, 2023
Brussels School of Competition Lectures: EU Merger Control

September 16, 2022
FCLI Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law and Policy

June 28, 2022
The UK’s National Security Screening Regime: The First Six Months

June 16, 2022
Vestager 2: What’s Going on in EU Antitrust Enforcement

May 26, 2022
Can the UK Be Start-up Nation 2.0?

May 19, 2022
Concurrences 3rd International Mergers Conference 

April 26, 2022
The Digital Markets Act – Unpacking the EU’s Transformative New Tool Box

March 24, 2022
Implications of the Intel Judgment for Article 102 Enforcement

March 9, 2022
UK Antitrust Enforcement: One Year After Brexit

October 21, 2021
Is There a Need for More Politics in Norwegian Competition Policy?

June 25, 2021
The Future of Competition Policy in China

June 24, 2021
Antitrust and Merger Control for Institutional Investors and PE Firms: Recent Developments, Current Issues, and Challenges

May 20, 2021
UK Antitrust Enforcement Post-Brexit: What’s New and What’s to Come

May 18, 2021
Concurrences 2nd International Mergers Conference

January 14, 2021
The UK’s New Investment Regime: Changes and Challenges

November 2, 2020
Current Issues in Global Merger Control – Columbia Law School

October 22, 2020
UK Antitrust Enforcement Post-Brexit: What to Expect and How to Prepare

September 7, 2020
Advanced EU Competition Law Conference 2020

July 20, 2020
Would Anything Have Changed? The Use of the Failing Firm “Defense” in Merger Control

July 1, 2020
Implications of the Three/O2 Judgment for EU Merger Control

April 9, 2020
Mergers: Filing, Review… Is It a 100% Deadlock Situation?

February 19, 2020
Concurrences 1st International Mergers Conference

June 27, 2019
MergerFest – Brussels

October 26, 2018
Antitrust and Developing and Emerging Economies Conference – New York

June 21, 2018
IGLEF’s Common Ownership and Its Role on Merger Enforcement

June 21, 2018
The Path Towards Modern EU Competition Policy: A 50+ Year Retrospective

June 7, 2018
GCR Live 6th Annual Conference - New York

February 23, 2018
Innovation Economics for Antitrust Lawyers

January 12, 19, 26, 2018
Brussels School of Competition: The Law and Economics of Merger Control

July 4-5, 2017
GCR Live 9th Annual Conference - Brussels

September 28, 2017
GCR Live 5th Annual Conference - New York

June 2, 2017
Columbia Law School Antitrust Conference: Law, Competition and Markets: Do Antitrust Laws Enhance Competition and Lead to More Efficient Markets? - Paris

May 15-18, 2017
IBC’s Legal Advanced Competition Law Conference - London

February 28, 2017
Brussels School of Competition - the Google Unpacked - A Review of the Ongoing EU Antitrust Cases

November 29, 2016
OECD Competition Committee Meetings - Best Practice Roundtables on Competition Policy

November 18, 2016
Association of Competition Economics 14th Annual Conference

November 7, 2016
GCR Live  4th Annual  Conference - New York

April 13, 2016
IBC’s Legal Merger Control 2016 - Brussels

February 26, 2016
Oxford University Centre for Competition Law & Policy Lecture Series

February 1-2, 2016
Global Competition Law Centre 11th Annual Conference - The Notion of Restriction of Competition: Revisiting the Foundations of Antitrust Enforcement in Europe - Brussels

October 19, 2015
New York University Law School - Guest Lecture

September 30, 2015
Fordham University 42nd Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law and Policy

October 21, 2014
Columbia University - Guest Lecture

June 19, 2014
Tilburg Law and Economics Center Seminar “European Merger Policy”