Julian Alexander Sanner’s practice focuses on EU and German competition law.

He advises clients on a wide range of antitrust issues, including merger control proceedings, restrictive practices, abuse of dominance, digital regulation, and litigation before German and European courts. His experience includes various sectors, notably, technology, semiconductors, telecom, consumer goods, automotive, manufacturing and industrial services, and the sports industry.

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Notable Experience

Merger Control

  • Ecolab in the sale of its surgical solutions business to Medline.

  • Decathlon in its acquisition of Bergfreunde, an online specialist retailer for mountain sports, climbing, and outdoor equipment.

  • Dassault Systèmes in connection with the formation of a joint venture with state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) in China and several other M&A transactions.

  • Fertiglobe in its milestone investment in Africa’s first integrated green hydrogen plant, Egypt Green.

  • Fertiglobe in its proposed joint venture with ADNOC/TA’ZIZ to establish a blue ammonia production facility in TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemical Zone.

  • DWS Investment in connection with the acquisition of joint control of a German telecom provider active in the FTTH (Fiber-To-The-Home) sector and the formation of a joint venture with a further fiber company.

  • Adevinta in its $9.2 billion acquisition of eBay Classifieds Group (eCG), the classifieds arm of eBay.

  • IBM in its $34 billion Red Hat acquisition.

  • OCI in its strategic partnership with ADNOC, combining ADNOC Fertilizer with OCI’s MENA nitrogen fertilizer platform to form a new joint venture, creating the largest export-focused nitrogen fertilizer platform globally.

  • Accor S.A., a world-leading travel & lifestyle group, in the acquisition of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts Management AG.

  • International Flavors & Fragrances in its $7.1 billion acquisition of Frutarom.

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Restrictive Practices, Abuse of Dominance

  • Successfully defended Telefónica Germany against a Federal Cartel Office (FCO) complaint by 1&1 regarding a National Roaming Agreement.

  • A leading information technology company in a data investigation before the German Federal Cartel Office.

  • German football clubs Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg before the German Federal Cartel Office in relation to the 50+1 rule, which prevents investors from controlling German football clubs.

  • The International Olympic Committee with respect to an alleged cartel infringement before the German Federal Cartel Office.

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Litigation

  • HMD Global Oy, a Finnish mobile phone manufacturer, in German court proceedings against VoiceAge concerning standard essential patent (SEP) licensing.

  • Broadcom in litigation before various German courts.

  • Henkel  in cartel damages litigation before various German courts. 

  • OTIS in several cartel damages litigation cases before various German courts.

  • Masco in several cartel damages litigation cases before various German courts.

  • Clarios in connection with several cartel damages litigation cases before various German courts.

  • ENI in an action for damages against the four banking associations in connection with the EC cash cartel before the Berlin Regional Court.

  • Nestlé in cartel damages litigation before the Mannheim Regional Court. 

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Selected Activities

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  • Legal traineeship (Referendariat), Higher Regional Court in Cologne (2012 - 2014)  
  • Stage, European Commission in Brussels and European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (2012 - 2014)
  • Research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg (2009 - 2012)
  • Stagiaire, Cleary Gottlieb Cologne office (2008 - 2009, 2013)

Publications

Lexology’s In Depth: Cartels and Leniency, 13th edition (editor), Business Law Research, March 2025

“German Court Confirms Narrow Scope of Transaction Value Threshold in Merger Control,” Cleary Antitrust Watch blog, March 3, 2025 (together with Lars-Peter Rudolf, Lea Katharina Geiger, and Parsa Tonkaboni)

“German Highest Civil Court Refers Question of D&O Liability for Corporate Antitrust Fines to CJEU,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, February 25, 2025 (together with Rüdiger Harms, Patrick Gerardy, Samira Meis, Salim Benayad, and Marc Baldauf)

Lexology’s In Depth: Cartels and Leniency, 12th edition (editor), Business Law Research, March 2024

“Art. 4 Fusionskontrollverordnung  (commentary on Article 4 FKVO), in: Münchener Kommentar zum Wettbewerbsrecht,” co-author with Dirk Schroeder, 4th ed., 2023

”Draft Government Bill Aims to Strengthen Germany as a Seat for Litigation,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, September 18, 2023 (together with Rüdiger Harms and Berta Boknik)

“Germany,” Lexology Getting the Deal Through: Dominance 2023, March 2023

“Recent Developments in International Civil Procedure: Document Discovery and the Recognition of Foreign Court Decisions in Germany,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, December 15, 2022 (together with Nils Andräs, Patrick Gerardy, Rüdiger Harms, Samira Meis, and Polina Lehmann)

“Germany Implements the EU Antitrust Damages Directive,” March 2017 (together with Dirk Schroeder, Romina Polley, Rüdiger Harms, and Mathis Rust).

“Gerichtsstand bei Kartellschadensersatzklagen,” Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht (EuZW) 2015, p. 584 et seq. (together with Rüdiger Harms and Johannes Schmidt).

“Düsseldorf Court of Appeals Upholds Dismissal of CDC Damage Claims in Cartel Follow-on Action,” April 2015 (together with Dirk Schroeder, Rüdiger Harms and Elisabeth Macher).

“Informationsgewinnung und Schutz von Unternehmensgeheimnissen in der privaten Kartellrechtsdurchsetzung,” Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2014, 912 p.

“Unionsrechtskonformität der Ausschlussfristen für kartellrechtliche Schadensersatzklagen vor dem Competition Appeal Tribunal,” Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht (ZEuP) 2014, p. 173 et seq.

“Die Entthronung des Kronzeugen? Akteneinsicht im Spannungsfeld zwischen behördlicher und privater Kartellrechtsdurchsetzung nach Pfleiderer,” Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb (WuW) 2011, p. 1067 et seq. (together with Matteo Fornasier).

“Der Zugang zu Schriftsätzen der Kommission aus Gerichtsverfahren vor den europäischen Gerichten,” Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht (EuZW) 2011, p. 134 et seq.

“Der Schutz personenbezogener Daten beim Zugang zu Dokumenten der Unionsorgane,” Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht (EuZW) 2010, p. 774 et seq.

Events