Paul, Weiss Expands European Antitrust Capabilities

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced today that Richard Pepper and Ross Ferguson will be joining the firm’s Antitrust practice in Europe. Pepper will split his time between the firm’s London office and Brussels and Ferguson will be resident in Brussels. Pepper and Ferguson will advise clients on all aspects of EU and UK merger control and antitrust regulation; their move follows that of leading antitrust advisors Nicole Kar and Annie Herdman.

“We are thrilled to expand our global antitrust capabilities with the addition of Richard and Ross,” said Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp. “Their arrival will enable us to provide seamless and strategic advice to our clients on the full range of antitrust issues, from merger control and cartel investigations to foreign direct investment reviews.”

“We are delighted to welcome Richard and Ross, two outstanding antitrust advisors, who will join Nicole and Annie and our growing European team,” said Roger Johnson, global co-chair of the M&A practice and co-head of the London office. “We are committed to providing our clients with the full spectrum of services they need to successfully execute their complex cross-border transactions and investigations, and Richard and Ross bring a wealth of sophisticated experience advising on all aspects of EU and UK antitrust issues.”

Pepper has a broad practice that includes global merger control and foreign direct investment reviews, cartel and behavioral investigations, and counselling on all aspects of antitrust law. He has advised global institutional investors, private equity firms, and leading public and private companies across many sectors. His notable representations include ArcelorMittal in its acquisition of Ilva; Dow in its merger with DuPont; General Motors in its sale of Opel to Peugeot; Telefónica in a joint venture with Liberty Global to form Virgin Media O2; Terminix in its sale to Rentokil; and United Technologies in its merger with Raytheon. He has also advised institutional investors on some of the first cases under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.

Pepper has an M.A. in English Literature from Oxford University (Trinity College) and attended law school at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.

Ferguson regularly advises private equity, funds and public company clients on complex cross-border transactions, antitrust investigations, EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation filings and foreign direct investment reviews. Among other matters, he has advised Blackstone in its acquisition of Atlantia (Europe’s largest-ever private equity deal at the time of completion); EQT in its recent acquisition of Dechra PLC, as well as a wide range of other transactions; Refinitiv in its acquisition by the London Stock Exchange Group; VEON in its Wind Tre joint venture with CK Hutchison; Nexi S.p.A. in its acquisition of payment provider SIA; IFM Investors in its acquisition of Aqualia and a wide range of other infrastructure investments; Antin in its acquisition of Consilium Safety; Hellman & Friedman and the NPD Group in their acquisition of Information Resources, Inc.; and KKR in its acquisition of ContourGlobal plc. Like Pepper, Ferguson has also advised on some of the first cases under the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.

Ferguson earned his B.A. in Law with law studies in Europe from Oxford University and Università degli Studi di Siena.

The Paul, Weiss Antitrust Practice advises clients on a full range of global antitrust matters, including antitrust regulatory clearance, government investigations, private litigation, and counseling and compliance. The firm represents clients before antitrust and competition authorities in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions around the world.