The Brattle Group announced today that it is expanding its global and European economic consulting platform with a launch in Brussels that brings together several top EU economists.
The Brussels office will be led by Brattle Academic Advisor Kai-Uwe Kuhn and Principals Eliana Garces and Konstantin Ebinger, each of whom brings deep experience in competition cases presented before the European Commission and national antitrust authorities worldwide, as well as in follow-on damages litigation. Brattle’s experts in Brussels will work closely with its worldwide network of consulting experts and academic affiliates.
“Brussels is the hub for high-profile competition matters throughout Europe, and our Brussels office will provide face-to-face service to the Brussels competition community,” said Brattle President Alexis Maniatis. “Given that the European Commission has increasingly influenced competition policy matters, a strong presence in Brussels is a must for a modern global competition practice. We look forward to building on our existing footprint in Europe, which includes offices in London, Madrid, and Rome, and draws on the experience of our global competition teams across North America and in Australia,” noted Maniatis.
— Professor Kuhn is a former chief economist at DG Competition, where he
led the economic analyses for many high-profile mergers and several of
the Commission’s major antitrust cases (article 101 and 102). He is a
leading academic in the area of industrial organization and has
advised clients on a range of antitrust matters for the past 25
years.
— Dr. Garces was a member of the Competition Chief Economist team at the
European Commission and a member of former Vice President Joaquin
Almunia’s cabinet, the commissioner responsible for competition
policy. She also served as the deputy chief economist at DG Internal
Market and Industry. Dr. Garces is an experienced competition
economist, advising on a variety of matters throughout the EU and the
US.
— Mr. Ebinger has more than 10 years of consulting experience in
competition and antitrust matters in Europe and the United States,
having advised on competition issues before the European Commission
and national competition authorities, as well as in follow-on damages
litigation.
The opening of the Brussels office is another step in the growth of Brattle’s worldwide competition practice. In Europe, the Brussels team will work closely with Brattle’s existing experts and will also draw on resources in London, Madrid, and Rome. They include:
— Dr. Pinar Bagci of Brattle’s London office, who has over 20 years of
experience advising on matters related to mergers, cartels, state aid,
and abuse of dominance in proceedings before EU and UK competition
authorities.
— Dr. Pedro Marin of Brattle’s London and Madrid offices, who has
advised companies in investigations concerning alleged cartel behavior
and abuse of dominance across the pharmaceutical, telecommunications,
and energy industries. He previously was in academia specializing in
empirical industrial organization and also spent several years in
government, where he advised the Spanish Prime Minister on
microeconomic and competition issues.
— Dr. Francesco Lo Passo of Brattle’s Rome office, who is an expert on
regulation, privatization, and restructuring processes. Before joining
Brattle, he worked for the Italian Treasury, the Italian financial
markets regulator Consob, and the OECD Advisory Group on
Privatization.
Brattle’s competition team also includes James Keyte, the Director of Global Development, who advises on project execution. Mr. Keyte is the director of the Fordham Competition Law Institute, and a former antitrust litigation partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
The Brattle Group analyzes complex economic, finance, and regulatory questions for corporations, law firms, and governments around the world. We are distinguished by the clarity of our insights and the credibility of our experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists.
