Bertrand is a counsel in our antitrust, competition and trade group. He shares his time between our Berlin, Germany and Silicon Valley, California offices. A dual-qualified competition lawyer (France and Germany) and Registered Foreign Legal Consultant with the State Bar of California, he advises on EU, German, French and multi-jurisdictional merger control and antitrust.
He specialises in merger control, abuse-of-dominance and distribution strategies under European, German and French competition law. He also advises on the EU's Digital Markets Act and Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
Bertrand is known for his significant experience in the tech, ad tech, media & advertising, new media, e-commerce, retail and pharmaceutical sectors. His clients range from US tech giants to European leaders in their respective fields, for example in media, e-commerce and pharma. Bertrand has been involved in antitrust or regulatory procedures for or involving three of the five largest global technology companies.
Recent clients include the television channels of the CME Group (PPF), Meta Platforms (Facebook), Zalando, Zentiva, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cinven and Advent.
Benefitting from unparalleled knowledge of the Hollywood and European media and film landscape, Bertrand also works closely with the Freshfields Technology and Media sector group leaders on initiatives relating to the industry.
Bertrand has been recognised as a 'Future Leader' by clients and peers every year since the very first 2017 edition of 'Who's Who Legal - Competition: Future Leaders' (Who's Who Legal/Global Competition Review). He was also included in the "Best Lawyers" list of competition lawyers published by German business daily newspaper Handelsblatt in 2023.
He is both a qualified lawyer and a business school graduate (Grande Ecole, MSc in Management).
Bertrand speaks English, German and a bit of Portuguese in addition to his native French.
Bertrand is also a representative of Halo, Freshfields' LGBTQ+ network.
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- Advising a confidential global technology client on the EU's Digital Markets Act.
- Advising Meta Platforms (Facebook) on the French competition authority's investigation related to the advertising technology sector, closed without any finding of infringement via negotiated commitments.
- Advising various Eastern and Central European TV channels of CME (PPF-owned; formerly Time Warner-owned) on general commercial issues.
- Advising a confidential client in relation to the EU's Google Shopping procedure.
- Advising Maersk on its approx. €1bn attempted sale of Maersk Container Industry to China International Marine Containers Ltd., which was subject to in-depth review by the German competition authority and the US Department of Justice.
- Advising Advent on its €1.9bn acquisition of Zentiva, the previous European generics business of Sanofi, and Zentiva’s subsequent acquisition of the entire CEE business of Alvogen.
- Advising Zalando on various e-commerce, distribution and platform topics.
- Advising Cinven and its portfolio company Viridium group on its acquisitions of the German life insurance activities of Generali Lebensversicherung (4 million policies) and life insurance portfolios of Zurich.
- Advising Boehringer Ingelheim on its €22.8bn swap deal with Sanofi relating to the companies' respective consumer healthcare and animal health businesses.
- Advising Cinven/Host Europe Group on numerous acquisitions in the Internet hosting sector as well as the €1.69bn sale of Host Europe Group to GoDaddy.
- Advising Daimler on its acquisition of Tognum by Engine Holding, a joint venture of Daimler and Rolls-Royce, by way of a public tender offer.
- Advising other clients including Axel Springer, ABB, Aryzta, Mars and LVMH/Groupe Arnault.
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Education
- University Paris II Panthéon-Assas, France (Master II degree in European business law)
- Universities of Paris I and Paris XIII, France (law)
- EM Lyon Business School, France (Master of Science in Management/Diplôme Grande Ecole in business administration)
Professional qualifications
- French-qualified lawyer (Avocat à la Cour, Paris chamber)
- German-qualified lawyer (Rechtsanwalt, Berlin chamber)
- Registered Foreign Legal Consultant (State Bar of California)
Professional memberships
- Member of Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht, an association of German-speaking competition lawyers
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