Lars Kjølbye focuses his practice on complex EU competition law and regulatory matters. Having worked for more than 10 years at the Directorate-General for Competition he knows the workings at the European Commission inside-out.

Lars advises international companies in all areas of EU competition law and has assisted them with complex antitrust proceedings before the European Commission (EC). He has successfully navigated on behalf of his clients some of the most high-profile and complex merger control and behavioral matters of recent years.

Prior to private practice, Lars spent ten years at the EC's Competition Directorate General where he held several prominent positions. During this tenure, he was inter alia involved in drafting Regulation 1/2003 which established a new procedural framework for applying Articles 101 and 102 TFEU and the accompanying guidelines and notices. He also served as a clerk at the European Court of Justice. Lars leverages his invaluable insight and knowledge of the workings at the EC and the EU courts, as he advises clients on their cutting-edge EU competition matters. Lars is the former Managing Partner of the firm’s Brussels office.
 

Lars' representative matters include advising:

  • Aon in its contemplated US$30 billion acquisition of Willis Towers Watson
  • Siemens Healthineers in its US$16.4 billion acquisition of Varian Medical Systems
  • Microsoft in its US$26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, its US$7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub and its US$19 billion acquisition of Nuance
  • Siemens in the US$7.6 billion acquisition of Dresser-Rand
  • A global soft beverages brand in an EC abuse of dominance investigation into retail channels
  • Major EU retail chain in an EC investigation into information exchange in context of a joint purchasing cooperation

Bar Qualification

  • Brussels Bar - E List
  • Denmark (Advokat)

Education

  • LL.M. in European Law, King's College London, University of London, 1991
  • Law Degree, Aarhus University, 1990

Languages Spoken

  • English
  • French
  • Danish