Tone is a trusted adviser on European and Belgian competition law. He guides clients through the complexities of cross-border merger control and antitrust investigations. Tone’s expertise empowers businesses to navigate regulatory landscapes with confidence and achieve competitive advantages in international markets.
Tone advises on all areas of competition law (merger control, cartels, abuse of dominance and state aid) as well as on general EU, international trade law and foreign investment laws, helping clients to protect themselves from financial and reputational risk. His practice is both Belgian and global, appearing often in front of the Belgian Competition Authority, the European Commission, as well as other major competition authorities as well as the Belgian and European courts.
Whilst he has advised clients in a broad range of industries, he has built up particular expertise in relation to life sciences, consumer goods, digital markets and telecoms.
Tone has extensive experience advising clients in the context of complex merger proceedings before the European Commission and other global authorities, often involving the negotiation of remedies.
Fluent in Dutch, English and French, and proficient in Spanish and German, Tone connects with clients across cultures, delivering nuanced insights that support strategic cross-border initiatives.
- A global technology company on its defence against the EC and UK CMA's parallel antitrust investigations into Facebook Marketplace, and on its defence and coordination of other antitrust proceedings around the world.
- A global technology company on its landmark challenge against the EC before the EU General Court, with Meta having obtained rarely granted interim relief from the Court.
- UBS on the global antitrust and regulatory strategy for its $3.32bn acquisition of rival Credit Suisse in the largest banking deal since the 2008 global financial crisis. The acquisition required antitrust and foreign investment approvals or engagements in 21 jurisdictions.
- Yokohama Rubber Company on its €2bn acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding, which included parallel merger processes in the EU, UK, US and Saudi Arabia, as well as foreign investment reviews in the UK and other European countries.
- Cargotec on its proposed merger with Konecranes in the cargo handling industry to create a combined group with sales of €7bn, involving the first parallel phase 2 review of a transaction by the CMA and the European Commission.
- Siemens on the worldwide merger control proceedings of the proposed transformative combination of Siemens' and Alstom's mobility businesses, which is now widely recognised as a landmark case for the European merger control regime.
- Siemens Gamesa on the merger control aspects of its acquisition of the European onshore wind turbine servicing business of Senvion.
- Liberty Global and Telenet on the competition law aspects of several key transactions including the $1.3bn ‘fixed-to-mobile’ acquisition of Belgium’s third-largest mobile network operator, BASE.
- Boehringer Ingelheim on the global merger control aspects of its $22bn asset swap with Sanofi. The deal, which transformed the parties into global leaders in animal health and consumer healthcare respectively, prompted merger filings in over 20 countries, including a rare triple 'fix-it-first' phase one clearance from the European Commission.
- Solvay on the global competition law aspects of some of its most recent important business reshaping transactions, including its $5.5bn acquisition of Cytec and its €4.3bn 50:50 joint venture with INEOS.
- EMI on the sale of its recorded music division to Vivendi and Universal, and on the acquisition of its music publishing division by an investor group including Sony.
- Thermo Fisher in relation to the merger control aspects of its proposed $11.5bn acquisition of Qiagen.
- TPG Real Estate Partners on its public takeover bid on all shares outstanding in Intervest Offices & Warehouses NV, a Belgian regulated real estate company.
- Vinçotte on the unconditional merger approval by the Belgian competition authority of its acquisition by KIWA.
- Several clients in the context of cartel investigations by Belgium's competition authority (the BCA) and ensuing litigation before the Belgian courts.
