Dr. Tilman Kuhn
Biography
Overview
Tilman is considered one of the leading antitrust and FDI (foreign direct investment) lawyers in Germany. His international experience spans across a multitude of jurisdictions focusing on merger control and FDI reviews, cartel matters, vertical conduct investigations, dominance matters and civil and appellate litigation for clients across key industries, e.g., oil & gas/chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, automotive and tech.
He has a significant track record on handling merger control proceedings successfully before the German Federal Cartel Office, the European Commission and a number of other international agencies, including, e.g. Metso's landmark "merger" with Outotec, The Dow Chemical Company's US$130 billion merger of equals with DuPont*, The Dow Chemical Company/Rohm & Haas*, Henkel/Adhesives & Electronics Business (National Starch)*, Airbus/Bombardier*, and many others.
His creative approach and deep sector knowledge across many industries makes him a sought-after advisor, also for questions related to FDI. Tilman routinely navigate clients through the evolving and increasingly challenging regulatory landscapes starting with the preparation and implementation of a foreign investment review strategy to obtain a timely approval of transactions consistent with deal objectives. He has handled several cases that involved Phase II reviews and mitigation agreements or measures.
Clients also benefit from his experience in cartel matters (including follow-on damages litigation) and other behavioral investigations. One of his recent successes in cartel matters was the representation of Autoliv in an automotive components cartel investigation by the European Commission and other authorities and follow-on damage claims.
Prior to joining White & Case, Tilman worked in the Cologne and Brussels offices for a renowned US law firm, with a particular focus on German and European antitrust law.
He is a prolific author on antitrust law and is an active member of Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht.
Juve states competitors are describing Tilman as "good and well experienced, especially regarding merger control cases" and Who is Who Legal is describing him as "one of the leading young competition lawyers in Germany." Who's Who Legal dedicated, easy to work with and a talented thinker.
Tilman "advises strategically and creatively" states a client, and a competitor highlights, that he is a "very good and dedicated antitrust lawyer with a lot of experience especially in large merger control proceedings" (JUVE 2019/2020). Who's Who Legal described him "as one of the leading young competition lawyers in Germany" (Who's Who Legal, Future Leaders 2017).
Experience
Selected merger control experience:
- Advised IMA and its controlling shareholders on the closing of the sale by BC Partners of its interest to BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank serving the distinct needs of business owners and strategic, long-term investors.
- Advised Altor on its public contemplated offer through a special purpose vehicle to acquire all shares of Permascand Top Holding AB (publ) and its subsidiaries.
- Advised a Prax Group, a multinational, independent energy group on its acquisition of OIL! Tankstellen GmbH, a petrol station operator with subsidiaries and activities in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Denmark, from Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG, an energy company belonging to the Marquard & Bahls Group.
- Advised specialty chemicals company LANXESS on the sale of its 40 percent stake in the chemical park operator Currenta to funds managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
- Advised Metso Corporation on the combination of Metso Minerals and Outotec Oyj under the name Metso Outotec
- Advised The Dow Chemical Company in various matters, including its $130 billion merger of equals with DuPont*
- Abbott/Solvay*
- Henkel/Adhesives & Electronics Business (National Starch)*
- Airbus/Bombardier*
Selected FDI experience:
- Advised Jenoptik AG on merger control and FDI aspects regarding its sale of its defense/mechatronics business Vincorion.
- Advised a number of energy and healthcare, tech and defense clients in FDI analyses and filings.
- Advised a US company in in-depth proceedings, resolved with a toughly negotiated mitigation agreement, in the area of lawful telecommunications interception for law enforcement agencies.
- Advised GlobalWafers on anti-trust and competition matters as well as foreign direct investment control aspects in relation to the voluntary public takeover offer to the shareholders of Siltronic AG.
- Advised several PRC-based SOEs on global FDI reviews.
- Advised EADS (now Airbus) on antitrust and FDI aspects of its joint (with ThyssenKrupp) acquisition of Atlas Elektronik.*
Selected behavioral/litigation experience:
- Advised Mediamarkt Saturn in relation to Antitrust Law on a range of issues and projects, especially regarding the foundation of the European Retail Alliance with FNAC Darty.
- Advised Autoliv in an automotive components cartel investigation by the European Commission and other authorities and possible follow-on claims
- Advised an electronics retailer in the EC’s online and RPM investigations
- Advised Axel Springer/Pro7Sat1 on the application for annulment of Federal Cartel Office merger prohibition (Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf; Bundesgerichtshof)*
- Advised and represented Lundbeck before General Court and ECJ in its appeal against the Commission's decision fining Lundbeck for concluding reverse payment settlement agreements.*
*Experience prior to joining White & Case
"Mergers in The New Normal: What Populist Antitrust Reform Portends for Mergers" in collaboration with Mondaq on November in collaboration with Mondaq on November 3, 2021
"25. Annual International Seminar on Competition Law", at the IBRAC conference in Brazil on November 6, 2019
"Recent Cases, Influential European Trends & Ethics" at the Antitrust TX conference in Houston on September 24, 2019
"Recent Developments in Cartels including Algorithmic Cartels" at the "Competition Law Challenges in the Motor Vehicle Sector" conference in Brussels, 2019
Competition Law & Policy Debate: Sustainable defense for competitor collaborations, Volume 6, Issue 2, December 2020, pp. 5-15, Tilman Kuhn and Laura Arnolds
European Competition Law Review: Sustainability in merger control – time to broaden the discussion, 2020, Issue 12, pp. 596-601, Tilman Kuhn and Cristina Caroppo
Law360: Expert Analysis "Innovative Collaborations Require Antitrust Flexibility", December 2019, Tilman Kuhn
European Competition Law Review: Between Coty, Guess and the new V-BER – where do we stand on e-commerce restrictions?, 2019, Issue 8 , pp. 376-382, Tilman Kuhn and Mathis Rust
Global Competition Review: Transatlantic convergence in merger control? - Time for EU procedural and institutional reform, June 2019, Tilman Kuhn
Knect365.com: Innocent Until Proven Guilty – Five Things You Need to Know About Killer Acquisitions, May 2019, Jacquelyn MacLennan, Tilman Kuhn, and Thilo Wienke
Knect365.com: 5 Things You Need To Know About The Debate: Whether "Common Ownership" Of Competitors By Institutional Investors Raises Antitrust Concerns, May 2019, Tilman Kuhn and Cristina Caroppo
Börsen-Zeitung: Parallele Minderheitsbeteiligungen im Fokus der Kartellbehörden (Parallel minority shareholdings in the focus of antitrust authorities ), March 2019, Interview with Tilman Kuhn
EC focus on internal documents: Time to rethink the architecture of the EU merger control process?, March 2019, Tilman Kuhn
Co-author, "Implications of the CJEU's Coty judgment for vertical online restrictions", Competition Law & Policy Debate, June 2018, Volume 4, Issue 2, (with Thomas Graf)
Co-author, "Lessons Learned from Merger Control of Minority Shareholdings in Germany", Revue Lamy de la Concurrence, 2014 (with A End) "The acquisition of significant competitive influence in German merger control - No model for Europe", Journal of Competition Law, ZWeR, 3/2011, pp. 258 et seq.
Commentary on Section 41 and 42 of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB). Commentary on Articles 3 (forthcoming), 6, 10, 25 and 26 EUMR, Frankfurter Kommentar
Co-author, "Germany", The Dominance and Monopolies Review, Law Business Research, 2014-2018 (Chapter 10), (with Stephan Barthelmess)
Who's Who Legal Competition
Global leader 2023
"Best Lawyer" for Competition/Antitrust Law
Handelsblatt 2022
Recommended Lawyer: Antitrust
JUVE 2020/2021
Who's Who Legal Competition
Global Leader & National Leader Germany 2022
Ranked Lawyers: Competition/European Law
Chambers Germany, 2021
Recommended Lawyer for FDI
Legal500 FDI
