WilmerHale’s work, as described below by Global Competition Review (GCR), has been shortlisted for the following in the GCR 2022 Awards:
Merger control matter of the year – Americas: Creative, strategic and innovative competition work for a client on a landmark merger control matter in the Americas.
Uber/Cornershop
Uber’s acquisition of Cornershop was the first merger between digital platforms ever reviewed and cleared unconditionally by Mexico’s antitrust authority. The Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) previously reviewed Walmart’s proposed acquisition of Cornershop, but the agency blocked that deal after determining that it would harm competition. Uber’s acquisition of a majority stake in Cornershop closed in January 2021 following a clearance battle between COFECE and the Federal Telecommunications Institute over which agency had jurisdiction to review the transaction.
Litigation of the year – Non-Cartel defence: Creative, strategic and innovative litigation on behalf of a defendant in a non-cartel private action.
Reveal Chat Holdco et al v Facebook
Facebook bagged a win in April 2021 when a California federal court granted with prejudice the company’s motion to dismiss a putative class-action lawsuit brought by a group of app developers. The plaintiffs challenged Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, together with its revocation of access to certain Facebook user data, while alleging that the social media company had monopolised the “Social Data” and “Social Advertising” markets. The California court granted Facebook’s first motion to dismiss in July 2020, ruling that the claims were time-barred. It dismissed the plaintiffs’ amended complaint nine months later for the same reason, holding that the case fell outside the four-year statute of limitations for antitrust claims.
Litigation of the year – Cartel prosecution: Creative, strategic and innovative litigation on behalf of plaintiffs in a private action for cartel damages.
Nestlé v Südzucker, Nordzucker and Pfeifer & Langen
Nestlé’s follow-on damages action against members of the German sugar cartel is considered the pilot case that triggered hundreds of similar claims. The claim, filed before the Regional Court in Mannheim in 2015, is the first in which the court has had to address the quantification of harm caused by the sugar cartel. It discussed the issue in a first-of-its-kind oral hearing with Nestlé, the sugar manufacturers, claimants from parallel proceedings and court-appointed economic expert Justus Haucap, who is the former president of Germany’s Monopoly Commission. In November 2021, Haucap sided with Nestlé’s view that the sugar cartel had caused an overcharge of at least 7.5%. If the court follows its appointed expert, it would result in the highest damages amount ever awarded in an antitrust follow-on damages action in Germany.
Behavioural matter of the year – Americas: Creative, strategic and innovative work carried out in a non-merger matter before an enforcer in the Americas.
DOJ’s investigation into G4S Secure Solutions
G4S Secure Solutions is the first international defendant to admit wrongdoing as part of a probe by the DOJ’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force. In June 2021, the company pleaded guilty to a charge that it conspired to fix prices and allocate customers for security services provided to the US military and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). G4S’s $15 million fine reflected a 15% reduction for its cooperation with the Antitrust Division.
Matter of Richard Usher and Rohan Ramchandani, before the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
A federal jury in New York acquitted foreign currency traders Richard Usher and Rohan Ramchandani of price-fixing charges in October 2018, but that did not mark the end of their legal troubles before Uncle Sam. The US Department of Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) dropped its cartel claims against the two defendants but continued to pursue allegations that they had engaged in “unsafe or unsound practices” and breach of their fiduciary duty. After deposing three experts, the OCC withdrew its charges in July 2021.
As a part of the process, GCR invites readers to vote for the cases, law firms, lawyers and enforcers they believe excelled in 2021. Voting for this year’s GCR awards nominees will take place until February 14, 2022.
View GCR’s full list of nominees and vote.