Gavin Bushell

Practice Areas

Antitrust & Competition

Cartels, Investigation and Dawn Raids

Healthcare

Merger Control & Joint Ventures

Career

Gavin Bushell is a partner in the European Competition & Regulatory Affairs Practice Group in Brussels, where he advises clients on EU competition and merger control law.

He has more than 20 years of experience practicing law and is a frequent speaker at legal conferences, particularly on merger control matters. In 2020, Gavin was listed as one of a limited number of practitioners in the Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Competition 2020.

Gavin is individually ranked in Chambers & Partners Global - Belgium for Competition Law in Band 3. “Clients appreciate that Gavin Bushell is "very quick in giving his assessment and gets to the point." He leads high-value merger control mandates that often trigger merger notifications in the EU and across multiple jurisdictions. "He goes the extra mile and finds pragmatic solutions to the problems," says another source.” "Clients say that Gavin Bushell is "extremely business-oriented, which makes it very easy to talk to him and to explain the practical issues." He is a key figure in the firm's competition team, regularly advising on EU merger investigations and assisting with the co-ordination of supporting global filings. Clients appreciate his ability to handle international mandates, saying: "He has huge experience in cross-border or multi-jurisdictional filings"."

In March 2012, Gavin was named by Global Competition Review as one of the top 40 of the world's leading competition practitioners under the age of 40 in its 40 under 40 survey. He is author of a number of articles on EU competition and merger control law and is the author of the three-chapter Introduction to EU Competition Law: Mergers and Acquisitions published by Edward Elgar Publishing.

Gavin focuses on EU competition and merger control law, and has acted for global companies in various sectors including aviation, bacteria, banking, beverages, food ingredients, industrial equipment, manufacturing, mining, parcel delivery services, recorded music, manufacturing, medical devices, packaging, pharmaceuticals and nuclear energy. He has broad experience in all aspects of merger transactions, as well as representing clients in litigation before the General Court of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to challenge European Commission decisions.

Professional Memberships

Law Society of England & Wales - Member

Barreau de Bruxelles - A-List

Publications

Author, “How Illumina-ting: the EU Merger Regulation and the brutal operation of power under Article 22 EUMR”, Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 20 April 2021

Author, "EU Merger Control: Life without the UK - Brexit and Beyond" Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 3 December 2020

Author, "Merger Control: To fee or not to fee, that is the question (and some practical tips)" Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 21 November 2020

Co-author, IBA Merger Working Group submission in response to the European Commission's public consultation on the White Paper on Foreign Subsidies, September 2020

Author, "EU Merger Control and the Implications from the Coronavirus Crisis", Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 20 March 2020

Author, "EU Merger Control: The Innovation Theory of Harm - The Debate Continues", Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 22 March 2018

Co-Author "Dow/DuPont and the Innovation Theory of Harm", The Threshold, ABA Magazine, Spring 2018

Co-Author, with Bill Batchelor and Fiona Carlin, "EU Merger Control: the Dow/DuPont Theory of Innovation Harm", Client Alert, October 2017, named Best Brussels Article at the 2018 Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards.

Author, “EU Merger Control and the Innovation Theory of Harm: Fake News?,” Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 3 March 2017

Author, "What's the Value of a Threshold? Proposed Reforms to the EU Merger Regulation" The Threshold, ABA Magazine, Volume XVII – Issue No. 1, December 2016

Author, "Have your say: commission consultation on EU merger regulation" International Law Office, 22 December, 2016

Author, "No smiles from the threshold: EU Merger Control reform", Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 24 October 2016

Author, "European Union Merger Control and Timing Issues," The Threshold, ABA Magazine, Volume No: X - Issue No. 1, August 2016

Author, "UK Votes to Leave" , Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 24 June 2016

Author, "Veering off the well-trodden path? European Merger Control and the Pharmaceutical Industry," Kluwer Competition Law Blog, October 2015

Author, "Justice Denied or Simply Delayed? Consequences of an excessively long procedure at the European General Court," Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, November 2014.

Author, "Mamma Mia, Here we go again," Kluwer Competition Law Blog, September 2014

Author, "Still in primary containment: the European Commission's approach to State aid in the nuclear industry," Kluwer Competition Law Blog, October 2013

Author, "Expedia: The de minimis Notice and 'by object' Restrictions," Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 2013

Author, "Minority Report? The EC's public consultation on minority shareholdings," Kluwer Competition Law Blog, August 2013

Presentations

Panellist, "GCR Live 9th Annual Antitrust Law Leaders Forum" Miami, February, 2020

Chairman, Baker McKenzie Seminar on Merger Control and Gun-Jumping after Altice, London, May 2019

Speaker, Compass Lexecon Competition Law Forum, Lake Como, October 2017

Speaker, Chillin' Competition Conference, Brussels, October 2017

Speaker, GCR Live East Asia Conference, Seoul, October 2017

Moderator, "Baker McKenzie and MLex: The Impact of Innovation in Merger Control, London and New York Seminar" February 2017

Speaker, "GCR Live 6th Annual Antitrust Law Leaders Forum" Miami, February, 2017

Speaker, "IBC Competition Law in the Transport Sector," Brussels, January 2016

Speaker, Pharmaceutical Industry M&A Conference, Brussels, October 2015

Speaker, "Trends and Development in Global Competition Law," May 2015

Speaker, "IBC Competition Law in the Aviation Sector," January 2015

Speaker, "IBC's Competition Law Challenges in the Aviation Sector," February 2014

Speaker, "The Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration / International bar Association Competition Law Issues in Regulated Industries," June 2013