René Grafunder

Practice Areas

Dr René Grafunder, LL.M. (Bruges), is a partner in Dentons’ Frankfurt office and head of the Competition/Antitrust practice group in Germany. He advises clients on EU and German antitrust matters, including merger control and state aid as well as compliance and distribution issues. René has substantial experience dealing with cartel, abuse and merger control proceedings before authorities and courts. He also focuses on advising clients along the retail chain on topics such as price communication, selective distribution, agency and online sales.

Career

Before joining Dentons, René worked for Linklaters in Düsseldorf, Brussels and Beijing. René studied in Potsdam, Paris and Freiburg (where he obtained his doctorate) as well as at the College of Europe in Bruges (LL.M. with option European Law and Economic Analysis).

Professional Memberships

René is a member of the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht (German Antitrust Lawyers Association) and the Competition Litigation Forum as well as a board member of the Frankfurt am Main Antitrust Law Forum (KartellrechtsForum Frankfurt am Main e.V.). He is a lecturer of DeutscheAnwaltAkademie and a regular speaker at competition law events.

Publications

René regularly publishes on EU and German competition matters, including retail price maintenance, leniency regimes, gun-jumping and cartel settlements. He is one of the authors of the “Handbook on Private Cartel Damage Claims.”

Personal

René is a proud father of two children and currently learning Turkish.

Experience

Power cable manufacturer: Advising in on-going cartel proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office and related litigation in the area of power cables.

Postal operator: Advising in cartel proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office in the area of mail consolidation (discontinued in 2025).

Japanese brand manufacturer: Advising on distribution related topics including selective distribution and agency.

Nehlsen AG: Advising on the antitrust and merger control aspects of the acquisition of Karl Meyer AG.

FUNKE MEDIENGRUPPE: Advising FUNKE on a cooperation between the Berlin daily newspapers Tagesspiegel and Berliner Morgenpost.

Silgan: Advising on cartel proceedings in the area of metal packaging, which were initiated by the German Federal Cartel Office in 2015, transferred to the European Commission in 2018 and concluded with a settlement in 2022, as well as on related EU court proceedings.

Yamaha Music: Advising on retail price maintenance proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office.

Different companies: Advising on cartel proceedings regarding “sausages,” “food retailing” and “heat exchangers” (Federal Cartel Office) as well as “window fittings” (European Commission).

AMEOS and Sana Kliniken: Advising on a Phase 2 merger control proceeding before the Federal Cartel Office.

ALBA: Advising a third-party intervener in a Phase 2 merger control proceeding before the Federal Cartel Office and the appeal proceedings regarding the proposed takeover of DSD by Remondis.

Deutsche Post DHL: Advising on merger control aspects of the sale of Williams Lea Tag to Advent as well as on different court proceedings (alleged abuses of a dominant position), transactions and abuse proceedings (Federal Cartel Office).

Superior Essex: Advising on merger control process incl. filings in Germany and Poland regarding its joint venture with Furukawa Electric for new high performance cables used in electric cars.

Pharmacy association: Advising on private antitrust litigation in relation to flu vaccinations.

Shipping operator: Advising on private damage claims litigation regarding excessive prices for fuel.

Fresenius Medical Care: Advising on different transactions and antitrust matters.

Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (German Savings Banks Association, DSGV): Providing EU State Aid advice in relation to the sale of HSH Nordbank to private investors as required by the European Commission as well as in relation to potential support measures in favor of NordLB.