CMS

Italy

CMS acquired Francesca Sutti from DLA Piper in September 2016, while co-head Paolo Scarduelli has been with the firm since 2006. Sutti is a well-known name on the Italian competition market and together they are trying to establish CMS as a force. She underlined the firm’s “impressive” growth over the last 12 months in terms of numbers and quality of clients. The firm advises various companies in confidential merger control matters and is assisting Porsche Italia regarding competition issues and compliance training. The firm also successfully acted for the Italian subsidiary of major French group, Cementi Centro Sud, in escaping fines for its alleged involvement in the cement cartel.

Switzerland

CMS SWITZERLAND offers a deep and broad competition practice under leader Patrick Sommer. In January 2017 the firm hired partner Marquard Christen, who works alongside specialist competition partners Alain Raemy and Pascal Favre. CMS global corporate head Stefan Brunnschweiler, who is based in Zürich, also boasts significant competition expertise.

The practice acts in a handful of the jurisdiction’s most important behavioural matters this year, including two banks in the Swiss enforcer’s investigations of the finance sector: Rabobank in the final settlements of Libor, Tibor and Euribor; and Julius Baer in the ongoing Forex and precious metals probes. Sommer and his team continue to act for the Koch Group in the pending Supreme Court appeal against the finding it participated in a window and window-door mountings cartel. It also counsels the Swiss branch of Bayer in the long-standing appeal against the Swiss enforcer’s decision finding it fixed the prices of erectile dysfunction medication. In mergers, the team counselled SNCF Mobilités in its purchase of a 45% stake in the Swiss railways freight transport company BLS Cargo. In another deal, the team acted for telecommunications provider Swiss Towers in its acquisition of a wireless communications infrastructure consortium from three other European telecommunications companies. Other key clients for the practice include Pfizer and ABB.

Russia

Maxim Boulba heads up the team at CMS Russia, which includes five associates and represents global companies such as Boehringer Ingelheim and Akzo Nobel. The team handles a mix of merger filings, behavioural work, public procurement – one of the FAS’s responsibilities – and compliance. This year, CMS worked with a major international firm on Komatsu’s acquisition of Joy Global, which the FAS cleared unconditionally despite its extensive involvement and interest. Boulba also helped Faurecia obtain clearance for the acquisition of shares in a Russian joint venture from the other shareholder, increasing its participation in the venture from 60% to 100%.

United Kingdom

CMS enters the GCR 100 following its merger with Nabarro – previously a recommended firm – and technology, media and telecommunications-focused Olswang, which became effective in May 2017. Former Nabarro partners Brian Sher and Cyrus Mehta and CMS partners Caroline Hobson, Graeme Young and Satyen Dhana, and counsel Rachel Bickler, now make up the team’s senior ranks. Nabarro’s team was best known for its work in healthcare; Sher led for GlaxoSmithKline in the CMA investigation of the drugmaker’s role in a pay-for-delay ring affecting antidepressant paroxetine, and in the company’s Competition Appeal Tribunal against the enforcer’s decision in early 2017. The team advises companies in the FCA’s asset management market study and the CMA’s care homes market study; and represented BACS, Faster Payments and and Cheque & Credit Clearing Company in securing UK merger control clearance.