Practice Focus

Mark Gardner is a member of the firm’s European Competition practice. He is based in London. He has experience of advising in relation to both UK and EU competition law, on matters including merger control, abusive conduct, restrictive practices, commercial agreements, and compliance issues.

Mr Gardner has advised a variety of clients (corporations, trade associations, and financial investors) across a number of different sectors, including food, media, tobacco, clothing, and finance. He has particular experience of advising in relation to the alcoholic beverage industry.

Mr Gardner has worked in-house as competition counsel at a major FTSE 100 company and has also undertaken a traineeship at the European Commission (DG Internal Market).

Prior to joining Arnold & Porter LLP, Mr Gardner worked in the competition law group at a leading London law firm. He holds a law degree from the University of Reading, and an MA in EC Competition Law from King’s College London. Mr Gardner is also a member of the Law Society’s Competition Section and the Section of Antitrust of the American Bar Association.

Representative Matters

• Kraft Foods on its £11.7 billion hostile bid for Cadbury plc and on the disposal of certain businesses required by the European Commission.
• Advising a large global energy company on an extensive competition compliance audit and drafting subsequent competition law compliance guidelines.
• NBC Universal on the establishment of a joint venture with News Corp./Fox. Filing and obtaining clearance from the European Commission.
• Advising a multinational pharmaceutical company in securing merger clearance in several national jurisdictions for a US$3.1 billion transaction.
• Kraft Foods in the sale of its salted snacks business in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
• Advising a global communications company in securing merger clearance in numerous national jurisdictions for a US$3.5 billion acquisition.
• Advising an international chemicals company in securing merger clearance from the UK’s Office of Fair Trading.