Biography: Competition

John Oxenham's practice covers all aspect of competition law including specialist competition litigation. John continues to advise clients in numerous sub-Saharan African jurisdictions (including drafting sections on the Mauritian merger guidelines). He holds both BA and LLB degrees from the University of Cape Town and completed a diploma in competition law at the University of the Witwatersrand and previously worked at Howrey LLP in Washington, DC, in their antitrust group as a secondee.

John has authored numerous competition law articles for various publications, appeared on television and radio interviews and is a co-author of Cartels – The South African Cartel Handbook. As a member of the cartel sub-committee, advised the competition law committee of the Northern Provinces in relation to the revised corporate leniency policy. John is currently a non-governmental adviser in the International Competition Network's advocacy subgroup and spoke recently at the ICN's 10th Annual Conference at Den Hague regarding competition advocacy. John is also a member of the drafting team for the ICN advocacy working group's competition benefits project 2012. John was previously a non-governmental adviser to the ICN's merger and notification subgroup, which included speaking at the ICN's N&P subgroup feedback in Moscow. John is also a director of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Recent significant matters include advising: Premier Foods in relation to the first ever attempt to form a class action damages claim; Merck & Co and Sanofi-Aventis SA in relation to their much-publicised animal health joint venture; in relation to ongoing antitrust litigation in the agricultural sector; in relation to the long-steel sector regarding price fixing allegations; Schering-Plough and Merck in relation to the much-publicised reverse merger between Schering-Plough and Merck; Premier Foods Limited in obtaining the first ever final immunity from prosecution in the bread cartel; Anglo American in relation to the sale of Anglo's zinc assets to Vedanta Plc; currently on the commission investigation into the milling industry; Pick n Pay in relation to the Competition Commission's high-profile investigation of the retail grocery sector; successfully advising Google Inc in relation to an abuse of dominance complaint before the SA authority; H&R in relation to defending allegations of an abuse of dominance in the petroleum jelly sector; a petroleum client in relation to the ongoing Bitumen cartel hearings; currently in relation to the Commission's investigation into the retail diesel industry; currently in relation to the SA Commission's investigation into the carbonated soft drinks market; Premier Foods and Brait in relation to the acquisition by Brait of Premier; ongoing investigations into the oil and gas sector, freight forwarding sector, motion picture sector, air passenger and air cargo sectors, the bran and offal sector and the construction sector.