Rupert Phillips is counsel in Ropes & Gray's antitrust group in London. Prior to joining Ropes & Gray, Rupert was an associate in the Brussels office of another leading international law firm.
Rupert advises clients on EU and UK competition/antitrust law and regulatory matters. He has significant experience advising clients on complex antitrust investigations in Europe and Asia (particularly abuse of dominance matters), and steering clients through international merger control, FDI, and FSR processes for major transactions. Rupert advises across various industries, with particular experience acting for technology, life sciences, semiconductor, and private equity clients.
Rupert is admitted to the New York State Bar and has an LL.M. from UC Berkeley School of Law, California and an LL.B. from the London School of Economics.
Experience
Representative Strategic Company Experience
- Vapotherm, a respiratory support medical device company, in a definitive merger agreement with an affiliate of Perceptive Advisors, a healthcare investment firm.
- Novavax Inc. in a co-exclusive licensing agreement with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi to sell Novavax COVID-19 vaccine and collaboration to create a combined global COVID-19 and influenza shot.
- Signify Health on its sale to CVS Health for $8 billion.
- Nippon Steel Corporation on its ~$14 billion bid for US Steel.
- Google on its acquisition of an interest in Reliance Jio Platforms valued at $4.5 billion.
- NxStage Medical in relation to its acquisition by Fresenius.
- Takeda in relation to technology licensing and R&D collaboration agreements.
- A technology company in relation to the FTC’s review of Qualcomm’s proposed acquisition of Autotalks.
- SanDisk in relation to its acquisition by Western Digital.*
- Actavis on its acquisition of Allergan for $66 billion to obtain clearance from the European Commission.*
Representative Private Equity Experience
- Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. in relation to a transaction between Court Square Capital Partners, a leading U.S. middle market private equity firm, and PlayCore Group, a provider of multi-brand playground equipment and recreation products, closing a single-asset continuation fund.
- Crosspoint Capital Partners in its $870 million acquisition of Absolute Software, a Canada-based cybersecurity company.
- Kohlberg & Company in its acquisition of a majority stake in CLEAResult, an environmental consulting firm, from TPG Growth and TPG’s The Rise Fund.
- Bain Capital on its acquisition of Hitachi Metals for $7.5 billion.
- Bain Capital on its US$18 billion acquisition of Toshiba Memory Corporation from Toshiba Corporation, by way of a Bain Capital-led consortium including Apple, Seagate Technology, Kingston Technology, Hoya, Dell Technologies and SK Hynix.
- Bain Capital on its acquisition of Evident Corporation.
- Bain Capital on its acquisition of NGA UK from NGA Human Resources.
- Bain Capital on its acquisition of Asatsu-DK
- Bain Capital on its acquisition of MKM Building Supplies.
- Vista Equity Partners on their investment in Aptean.
- Avista on the antitrust aspects of the sale of Trimb Healthcare to Karo Pharma.
- New Mountain Capital in acquiring ACETO Corporation’s chemicals business assets.
Representative Investigation Experience
- Google on its successful dismissal of an investigation into Gmail and Google Meet.
- Google in relation to various investigations concerning Android, apps, and digital payments.
- An international consumer goods company in relation to abuse of dominance investigation.
- An international financial institution in relation to investigations by the European Commission concerning LIBOR and EURIBOR.*
- An international financial institution in relation to an investigation by the European Commission concerning credit default swaps.*
*Experience prior to joining Ropes & Gray