José Antonio de la Calle
Biography
Legal 500 2025
“José Antonio de la Calle is a super experienced competition lawyer. I really trust his advice completely.” “His solidity and knowledge of the law and its application are his strengths. He is able to transmit huge confidence and has charm.”
Chambers Europe 2024
“José Antonio de la Calle follows the cases closely and is available anytime. He provides feedback continuously in a way that we feel our company is being taken care of without any concern from our side.”
Chambers Europe 2024
Overview
José Antonio heads the White & Case Antitrust and Competition practice in Spain. He has over 25 years of expertise advising companies, trade associations, and government agencies in a wide range of industries on all aspects of EU trade and antitrust/ competition law, focusing on regulated sectors.
With extensive experience in the full scope of EU and antitrust/ competition work, particularly in cases with a cross-border link, José Antonio specializes in merger control assignments, cartel investigations and antitrust litigation. He has been involved in some of the most high-profile Spanish cases in recent years, and regularly represents clients before the national competition and markets authority (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia), the national appeals court (Audiencia Nacional) and the highest court of the realm, the Spanish supreme court (Tribunal Supremo).
José Antonio was the co-founder and managing partner of a leading antitrust law firm in Spain before joining White & Case. He established and successfully developed his own practice for more than a decade after working for 15 years at the Madrid and London offices of a prominent United States law firm, where he became partner in 2009. In 2011, he was awarded the Iberian Lawyer 40 Under Forty Award and has since been recognized as a Global Leader in the field of antitrust/ competition law by Global Competition Review (GCR).
José Antonio is a recognized expert in EU and national antitrust law in Spain. He is ranked as a leading lawyer in this field by several publications, including Chambers Europe, The Legal 500, and GCR. He is a prolific author and frequent contributor to prestigious law journals, as well as a sought-after speaker at conferences and seminars on antitrust/ competition law.
Davis and Berkeley, USA
Belgium
Spain
Experience
Examples of his experience in M&A deals subject to merger control include advising:
- Median (Waterland) before the Spanish competition authority in the merger-control clearance following its acquisition of Hestia Alliance, a leading management group in socio-healthcare assistance in Spain. (Case C/1395/23 - Median Unternehmensgruppe/ Grupo Hestia).
- Masdar before the Spanish competition authority in the merger-control clearance following its acquisition of the operation of renewable wind and solar energy generation assets, as well as energy distribution and transmission assets owned by Saeta Yield (Terp Group) (Case C/1505/24 - Masdar España/ Grupo Terp).
- Acciona Energy in connection with the sale of its hydraulic corporation business to Endesa Generación, which gave rise to a concentration notified to the Spanish competition authority (Case C/1524/25 - Endesa Generación/ Corporación Acciona Hidráulica).
- Louis Dreyfus Company before the Spanish competition authority in the merger-control investigation following its acquisition of BASF’s food ingredients’ division. (C/1543/25 - Louis Dreyfus Company/ Illertissen).
- Investindustrial before the Spanish competition authority in the merger-control clearance following its acquisition of Alacant Group. (Case C/1531/25 - Global Icecream Investments/ Grupo Alacant).
- Hailo before the Spanish competition authority in the merger-control clearance following its projected merger with mytaxi, a Daimler group subsidiary and its direct competitor in the taxi apps market. The parties received international authorization to close their deal while the closing in Spain remained suspended until the final clearance was received, marking a first-of-its-kind decision in Spain* (C/0802/16 - Daimler/ Hailo/ MyTaxi/ Negocio Hailo).
- American Express Global Business Travel before the Spanish competition authority in the merger-control clearance following its projected acquisition of Barceló’s minority shareholding in their Spanish joint venture* (C/0910/17 - GBT Euro Travel Holdings/ Global Business Travel Spain).
- Genzyme Corporation (Sanofi group) before the Spanish competition authority in the merger-control clearance following its projected acquisition of AstraZeneca’s proprietary product marketed as Caprelsa®* (C/0692/15 - Genzyme / Astrazeneca).
Examples of his experience in cartel investigations and Court litigation include advising:
- Snap-on Incorporated's wholly owned Spanish subsidiary SBS before the Spanish competition authority in Case No. S/0482/13, Car Manufacturers, and thereafter challenged the validity of the antitrust fine before the National Appeal Court and eventually, the Spanish Supreme Court*.
- The leading winery González Byass before the Spanish competition authority in Case No. S/0091/08, Sherry Wines, and thereafter challenged the validity of the antitrust fine before the National High Court and eventually, the Spanish Supreme Court*.
- Munters group before the Spanish competition authority in Case No. S/0423/12, Munters, and thereafter challenged the validity of the antitrust fine before the National High Court and eventually, the Spanish Supreme Court*.
Examples of his experience in other antitrust assignments include advising:
- A leading international mobility provider in a successful gun-jumping investigation by the Spanish competition authority, which concluded without requiring our client to submit a merger control filing or imposing any antitrust fines.
- A major international airline in a private antitrust arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration in Paris, France*.
- The Council of Spanish Bar Associations (Consejo General de la Abogacía Española, or CGAE) in preparing an independent expert report in relation to the compatibility with national and EU competition rules of CGAE’s recommendations to provide legal aid services in Spain*.
- Electrolux, the Spanish Association of Cars and Trucks Manufacturers (ANFAC), Snap-on and others in designing fully tailored, first-class EU and national competition law programmes, and subsequently delivering training sessions to executives and employees through in-person and virtual video conferences.
* Experience prior to joining White & Case