Florian Huerkamp is a counsel in our Competition, Regulation and Trade Practice in Germany.
Florian specialises in all aspects of EU and German competition law, with a focus on cartels (including follow-on litigation), merger control and abuse of dominance cases and a sector focus on regulated industries. Florian has represented clients in proceedings before the EU Commission, the Federal Cartel Office, the Federal Network Agency and in national courts. His sector experience covers consumer products, agribusiness, manufacturing and industrial. He has been listed as a leading lawyer for Competition in Germany ("Top-Anwalt für Kartellrecht") by WirtschaftsWoche.
As a former in-house counsel with Bayer AG, Florian was part of the in-house team that advised Bayer on the worldwide merger control process for its successful acquisition of Monsanto. He frequently holds lectures at the Institute for Antitrust Law in Düsseldorf and the University of Regensburg on a broad range of antitrust and other regulatory topics. His work has been published in the fields of competition, procurement, energy, and constitutional law.
Accolades
- Recognised as a leading lawyer for Competition in Germany ("Top-Anwalt für Kartellrecht"), WirtschaftsWoche 2022 and 2023
- Recognised as a "Rising Star" for Competition and Antitrust in Germany by Legal Media Group's Expert Guides The World's Leading Lawyers 2022
- The German CRT team has been ranked as recommended competition practice in Germany by Global Competition Review (GCR 100, 21th edition 2021)
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- Lufthansa Group on the sale of their globally operating catering business to private equity company Aurelius Group
- Rheinmetall on the acquisition of EXPAL Systems, a globally active ammunition maker
- ArcelorMittal in relation to merger control aspects of acquisitions in Germany
- Event Hospitality & Entertainment on the sale of its German cinema exhibition division, CineStar, to UK-based Vue International Bidco, successfully obtaining Phase II conditional clearance from the FCO (deal was ultimately abandoned)
- SoftBank Robotics Group on the sale of its French subsidiary SoftBank Robotics Europe to United Robotics Group
- General Mills on the sale of its European dough business to Cérélia
- AerCap on obtaining clearance from the EU and a number of other jurisdictions (in particular Germany and Austria) for its US$30 billion combination with General Electric Capital Aviation Services
- ANEX Tour on the acquisition of Neckermann Reisen, core brand of tour operator Thomas Cook Germany, from the insolvent Thomas Cook Group
- Deutsche Lufthansa on merger control issues in the sale of the European Business of LSG Group to airline caterer gategroup
- a sugar manufacturer on its settlement procedure with the Federal Cartel Office and (subsequently) defending the client against follow-on actions in court*
- REWE Group in its successful litigation against a ministerial approval of the merger between EDEKA and Kaiser’s Tengelmann*
- a manufacturer of asphalt mixes on its leniency application in a cartel case*
- a transmission grid operator in relation to capacity restrictions on an electricity interconnector and related proceedings by the Federal Network Agency*
*Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills
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