PwC TLS antitrust Team’s approach blends an expansive, global view with locally relevant expertise and draws upon a network of competition and antitrust lawyers working together with other PwC experts, including:
- Digital Innovation experts, to provide compliance internal audit by means of innovative and technological tools
- Deals experts, to provide divestment support, post-merger integration, bringing together deep expertise and international networks
- Forensics experts, to identify risks from a competition law perspective by collecting and analysing digital evidence and to support response to regulators
- Risk and compliance experts, to provide compliance, internal audit and restructuring support
- Merger control
- Competition investigations
- Competition law compliance and counselling
- Competition litigation
- EU State aid and foreign investments regulation
Merger control
Together with the experts of the Deals and Forensics Teams and PwC international network, we support clients growing through mergers, joint ventures and restructuring efforts in both national and multi-jurisdictional filings, to engage with competition authorities in all phases of the merger control proceedings.
Competition investigations
We assist our clients, also with the support of the Digital Innovation and Forensics Teams, throughout all phases of the investigation proceedings before the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) and the European Commission, for anticompetitive agreements, abuse of dominance, abuse of economic dependence and unfair commercial practices.
Competition law compliance and counselling
Together with the experts of the Digital Innovation, Forensics and Risk and Compliance Teams, we help clients to protect their business with effective competition compliance policies, manuals and guidelines and see challenges before they arise. We train clients’ employees on competition compliance with the aim to identify Do’s and Don’ts within different circumstances, also considering the specific clients’ business models and activities.
More in general, we assist clients in the context of non-contentious matters on the full range of antitrust and competition law issues. This covers also multidisciplinary advice as regards the antitrust-related aspects of commercial agreements, including, joint ventures, supply, distribution, franchising, IP licensing and technology transfer agreements.
Competition litigation
We advise clients involved in proceedings related to cartels, abuse of dominance, unfair competition, unfair commercial practices and action for damages, before administrative and civil Courts at the national and EU level.
EU State aid and foreign investments regulation
Under certain circumstances, State aid measures may distort fair competition and are, thus, prohibited in some jurisdictions. State aid measures which are found to be incompatible with the EU common market are prohibited, and the relevant amount granted must be returned. Following the COVID-19 pandemic State aid law has become an increasingly important aspect of legal orders, as regards the economic recovery plans implemented at the single Member States level (PNRR as far as Italy is concerned).
We can therefore support clients, both in the public and private sector, with respect to all the activities related to the application of EU State Aid rules, as well as with compliance and notification duties arising both at the national and the EU level, from foreign investments regulations, including Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 entered into force on 12 January 2023.
