Practice Focus

Susan Hinchliffe is an English qualified solicitor with experience advising clients operating in variety of industry sectors including: automotive components, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, telecommunications, branded consumer goods, and tobacco on a broad range of EU and UK competition law issues. Her practice has a particular focus on merger control, and she has advised on all aspects of the European Commission (EC) Merger Regulation in relation to numerous transactions. She also advises on UK merger control issues and has extensive experience in co-ordinating multijurisdictional mergers. Her practice also includes counselling and she frequently advises clients on the application of EU and UK competition rules to various types of commercial agreements and on compliance issues.

Ms. Hinchliffe also advises on European product regulations applying to a broad range of sectors including electrical goods, chemicals (including registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemical substances), food, and tobacco. This advice includes issues of  interpretation and national implementation, and is frequently provided to clients in the context of their overall strategic planning.

Representative Matters

Antitrust Transactions

• Advised Kraft Foods on its hostile bid for Cadbury plc and on the disposal of certain businesses required by the EC.
• Kraft Foods International in the sale of its salted snacks business in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
• Monsanto in its US$850 million acquisition of De Ruiter seeds.
• Kraft Foods International in its US$7.2 billion acquisition of Danone Biscuits including the negotiation of commitments to secure a Phase I clearance.
• SBC Communications in relation to its US$16 billion acquisition of AT&T Corporation. 
• AT&T in relation to its US $67billion acquisition of BellSouth.
• Computer Associates in its US$4 billion acquisition of Sterling Software. At the time, the acquisition was the largest in the history of the software industry.
• Meritor Automotive on its merger with automotive component manufacturer Arvin Industries to create ArvinMeritor, a leading automotive industry supplier.
• ArvinMeritor on its (aborted) hostile bid for Dana Corporation, and on its subsequent acquisition of various manufacturing assets from Volvo AB.