Biography
Cornelius is a member of the Firm's global Antitrust/Competition practice and he advises clients on all aspects of European and German competition law. He represents clients in proceedings before the European Commission and the National Competition Authorities across a wide range of key industries, including telecoms, oil & gas, chemicals, IT, logistics, e-commerce, finance, agriculture, healthcare, pharma, energy, software, gaming, and automotive.
Cornelius has significant experience in complex cross-border merger control and he regularly coordinates regulatory filings globally. He represents both private and sovereign clients before the European Commission in Phase I and Phase II merger control reviews, including investigations requiring complex divestitures. He also advises clients in merger proceedings before the German competition authority, including in-depth investigations.
Cornelius also advises clients in abuse of dominance matters, on horizontal and vertical agreements and compliance issues.
Experience
Swisscom
Advised Swisscom in a Phase II merger control review including remedies before the Italian Competition Authority, and in the FSR review by the European Commission of its landmark US$8.3 billion acquisition of Vodafone Italia.
Deutsche Telekom
Advised Deutsche Telekom in the proposed acquisition of Tele2 Netherlands, a four-to-three mobile market consolidation, which was cleared unconditionally by the European Commission following a Phase II investigation.
DIC Corporation
Advised DIC Corporation, a Japanese fine chemicals company, and its US subsidiary Sun Chemical Corporation, in connection with DIC's €1.15 billion acquisition of BASF's global pigments business (BASF Colors & Effects) which was cleared subject to remedies.
Saudi Aramco
Advised Saudi Aramco on its US$69.1 billion acquisition of a 70% stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund (PIF). The transaction was named "M&A Deal of the Year (Over US$50 billion)" by the M&A Advisor (2020).
SALIC / PIF
Advised Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, on the agreement to increase its ownership stake in Olam Agri Holdings Limited (Olam Agri) from 35.4 percent to 80.01 percent for approximately US$1.78 billion.
Nordic Capital
Advised private equity investor Nordic Capital on the investment of Vivecti Group, an integrated and technology-supported healthcare provider, on its acquisition of Sana Einkauf & Logistik GmbH, the general purchasing organisation and procurement entity of Sana Kliniken AG.
Synthos
Obtained unconditional EU clearance for a European synthetic rubber producer's acquisition of an EU-based rival, following a complex, multi-jurisdictional review and referral to the European Commission.
LDC
Advised LDC in EU merger control, foreign subsidies regulation (FSR), purchaser approval and FDI reviews related to LDC's acquisition of Bunge/Viterra divestment business.
Dream Games
Advised Dream Games, the developer and publisher of globally renowned mobile games Royal Match and Royal Kingdom, on a strategic investment from CVC.
