Biography • Competition

Antonio Bavasso advises on all aspects of antitrust law, practising primarily in London and Brussels.

Over the years Antonio has advised in relation to a number of precedent-setting merger and behavioural investigations as well as regulatory and antitrust litigation. These include: News Corp on the 2-1 merger which created Sky Italia and on the controversial regulatory aspects of its proposed acquisition of BSkyB; BSkyB on the acquisitions of Easynet and of a stake in ITV (and following litigation up to the Court of Appeal) as well as on the UK litigation on use of foreign decoders cards; WPP on its acquisitions of Grey and TNS; Alliance UniChem on its merger with Boots and subsequent CAT appeal; Sun Microsystems on its complaint against Microsoft; 20th Century Fox on the EC investigations on the use of MFN clauses and digital deployment agreements, and the CC reference on supply of movies to pay TV; and the acquisition of Orange Austria which was subject to a phase II with the EC.

Antonio is dual-qualified in the UK and Italy and has practised in San Francisco. He holds a JD magna cum laude from the University of Florence and a PhD from University College London (UCL). He is visiting professor at UCL where he delivers the EU competition law course and is a co-founder and director of the Jevons Institute at UCL. He has published widely in this area and is a co-editor of Competition Policy International and consultant editor of Butterworths' Competition Law Handbook. He is also a non-governmental adviser to the International Competition Network of competition authorities.

Antonio comes recommended as a leading lawyer in his field in the Who's Who Legal directory and he is recommended by Chambers, where he is described by clients as 'really understanding our business and gives practical advice, rather than taking theoretical legal positions' and is praised as an individual who is 'always prepared to jump in and offer pragmatic and practical solutions.'

Allen & Overy's antitrust and competition team comprises over 100 specialists located across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. We advise corporates and financial institutions on their global antitrust policies, litigation and regulatory strategies and have acted on some of the highest-profile and most complex cases in recent years.