Matt Evans

Partner
About

Matt is recognised by Who’s Who Legal 2023 as a thought leader among UK competition practitioners and has over 20 years' experience advising multinational and UK businesses on complex UK and EU competition law matters and UK national security filings. He coordinates transaction filing strategies across multiple jurisdictions and represents clients before the Competition & Markets Authority and European Commission, guiding them through both phase 1 and phase 2 merger control procedures.

Matt's experience spans both public and private deals, private equity and venture capital investments and joint ventures. Matt has considerable experience advising clients on foreign direct investment filings and leading discussions with the UK government on national security related matters. He also works with clients to help them prepare for EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation filings in the context of their M&A activity.

On behavioural matters, Matt represents clients in anti-trust investigations, market investigations, sector enquiries and subsidy control matters. Matt is particularly experienced helping clients develop distribution models that comply with the rules on active and passive sales whilst protecting brand values.

Matt has considerable experience advising clients in industrials, consumer goods, life sciences, transport, real estate, media, technology and energy sectors.

Matt is a former chair of the competition section of the Law Society of England and Wales (2020) and at his previous firm was global co-chair of the LGBTQ+ committee. Matt is "pragmatic", "excellent both technically and in terms of client skills", “available, efficient and has good relationships with the authorities" and is “easy to work with, a good communicator who understands how our internal teams work” Chambers, UK 2021-2023.

 

 

Professional QualificationsAdmitted to the Roll of Solicitors in the Republic of IrelandSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

EXPERIENCE

  • Advising CVS Group PLC before the CMA in respect of its completed acquisition of Quality Pet Care, including negotiating undertakings in lieu of a Phase 2 referral and advising on the application of an Initial Enforcement Order.
  • Advising a major defence contractor on UK national security and merger control filings before BEIS and the CMA in respect of a strategic acquisition, one of the first transactions to be notified under the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
  • Advising Miller Homes on its GBP 1.2bn sale to Apollo, including assessing the antitrust risks associated with each bidder.
  • Advising a leading agricultural inputs supplier on UK merger control proceedings in respect of a strategic joint venture.
  • Advising Wabtec Corporation on its USD11bn merger with GE Transportation, a transformative global deal requiring multiple merger clearances.*
  • Advising INVISTA, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., on the disposal of its Apparel & Advanced Textiles business to Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding.*
  • Acting for Greystar in creating a UK student housing business with a major pension fund and European institutional investor and acting on subsequent asset acquisitions by that business.*
  • Advising CBRE Global Investment Partners on its EUR625m acquisition of 25% of the interests in CHOP from TIAA-CREF and on subsequent asset acquisitions by CHOP.*
  • Advising Smith + Nephew on the USD240m purchase of Integra’s Extremity Orthopaedics business.*
  • Advising Roper Technologies on the proposed USD925m sale of its electron microscope peripherals Gatan business to Thermo Fisher Scientific; I led the team guiding Roper through phase I and phase II proceedings before the CMA.*
  • Conducting a multi-jurisdictional antitrust audit of a leading automotive financial services company.*
  • Advising Bally’s Corporation on antitrust and foreign investment control filings in respect of its GBP2bn bid for Gamesys PLC.*
  • Advising Koch Strategic Platforms on its USD500m minority equity investment in Mavenir, the only US based provider of end-to-end cloud-native software to meet the growing demand for 5G digital transformation by communication service providers and enterprises.*
  • Successfully defended a major video games publisher in an antitrust investigation brought by the European Commission.*
  • Successfully defended a major internet connectivity service provider in an antitrust investigation brought by the European Commission.*

* Denotes experience from a previous firm

Education
  • University of Oxford, Worcester College MA (Hons), Classic and Modern languages
  • College of Law Chester, CPE and LPC
  • Kings College, London, Post Graduate Diploma in EC Competition Law

Publications

  • NSI Act - Focus on the industrials sector, 18 January 2022
  • A legal overview, 4 January 2022
  • Caveat Emptor in UK merger control: Record fine highlights the non-filing risks for buyers, 24 August 2021
  • European Commission publishes long-awaited updated regulation and guidelines on vertical agreements, 18 August 2021

Seminars

  • 21 June 2021 Competition Law Association (CLA) and International League of Competition Law (LIDC) webinar: “Foreign Investment Rules: what has changed?”. Matt presented at this webinar on developments in UK law and practice on foreign investment and national security law reviews in the UK.
  • 23 June 2021 The Law Society Competition Section’s International Summer Antitrust Conference 2021: Matt chaired a session on “Competition enforcement post-Brexit: what lies ahead?”
  • 24 June 2021 INREV webinar: Merger control procedures in real estate deals. Matt co-presented alongside John Went, Legal Counsel CBRE GIP and John Rupp, Director of Public Affairs, INREV.
  • 23 November 2022 The Law Society's "National Security and Investments Act update" – Matt presented this webinar as a panellist and moderator, providing insights into the operation of the UK's new notification regime under national security powers.

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