Biography • Competition

Winfred Knibbeler is a partner in Freshfields' antitrust, competition and trade group, based in the Amsterdam office. Previously a partner at a major Dutch firm, he joined the firm as a partner in 2000. He is an experienced Dutch and EU competition lawyer with a strong litigation practice.

Winfred's recent experience includes advising Essent, the largest utility group in the Netherlands, on all competition related matters in the electricity and gas markets and Ziggo, the largest cable operator on a range of competition and regulatory matters. Winfred advised CVC on the retroactive approval by the European Commission of the CVK joint venture. Other clients include Reed Elsevier, PepsiCo, ABN AMRO, Visa Europe and Shell. Winfred is involved in a number of cartel cases and acts for the joint Dutch cable operators.

He graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in civil and European law and was also educated in London and Paris. Winfred was admitted to the Bar in 1991 and joined NautaDutilh as an associate in the same year, becoming a partner in Amsterdam in 1997. He is the chairman of the Dutch Association of Competition Lawyers and contributes to a large number of academic courses in competition law. He regularly publishes on selected competition topics. He speaks Dutch, English, French, German and Russian.

Freshfields' antitrust competition and trade practice comprises more than 50 partners and 260 specialists based in Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US. Our coverage of Asia, Europe and the US enables us to advise our clients in competition cases involving many jurisdictions around the world.

Biography • Regulatory Communications

Winfred is the managing partner of our Amsterdam office and a partner in the antitrust, competition and trade (ACT) practice group, based in our Amsterdam office. He has been involved in a large number of high-profile cartel and abuse of dominance cases in the Netherlands and has a substantial litigation practice, especially in the TMT and energy sectors, as well as in Dutch public procurement. He has vast experience of representing clients in Dutch, European and multi-jurisdictional merger notifications.

Winfred contributes to numerous publications and courses on European and global competition issues and is chairman of the Vereniging van Mededingingsrecht, the Dutch association of competition lawyers.

Before joining the firm in August 2000, Winfred was a partner at NautaDutilh. He graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in civil and European law and was educated in London and Paris. He speaks English, French, German and Russian.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a leading international law firm with a network of 26 offices in Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East, providing a full range of legal services to its clients around the world. Its TMT group numbers over 300 lawyers worldwide.

Other Practice Areas

Winfred Knibbeler also features in the following practice areas:

• Oil and Gas