16 Acquisition International - Legal Awards 2021 Oct21147 World Merger Control Database of the Year 2021 In 2016, Caselex founder, Marc de Vries embarked on a mission to change the world of merger control practitioners. The system has since grown to be the world-leading source for market definitions – one of the crucial aspects to getting big deals cleared. Caselex now serves hundreds of prestigious clients including top-tier law firms, competition authorities, and large multinationals across 30 countries and there is certainly more to come, as Marc explains. aselex – three times in a row! “Simply incredible!” Caselex is yet again crowned the Best Merger Control Database, but this time it has conquered the world. In the words of the founder and pioneer, Marc De Vries, “Caselex has turned into the genome of merger control” as it wins this prestigious laurel for the third consecutive time in a row. “We are extremely proud and thankful for the appreciation of our clients – big law firms, competition authorities and multinational companies across the globe.” And there is more to come: “We expect our clients to embrace the Remedies Module, which we will be launching early 2022 and there is even more magic in the pipeline!” Born out of frustration Marc explains, “As with so many things, Caselex is the result of pure personal frustration.” Drawing from his own experience as a lawyer in one of the biggest Dutch law firms, he continues, “I was increasingly frustrated by being unable to find decisions from foreign courts and competition authorities. Ultimately in 2016, I decided I was the one to embark on this journey and “walk the talk”.” And it was not long until his vision gained substance. Key motto: Look no further “Our core vision is that clients have to look no further and therefore, it is our mission to remain the leading source in the world of high-end intelligence onmerger control.” Marc notes further that “client satisfaction is our driving force which we amply demonstrate with a retention rate close to 100%: since the launch in 2017, we have hardly lost a client.” World coverage Today, covering 55 jurisdictions and providing over 50,000 market definitions, Caselex’s comprehensive database covers more than 17,000 decisions delivered in the last 21 years by competition authorities across the world. Marc adds, “Understanding that our clients are from around the globe, we have painstakingly strived to ensure their comfort by giving them access to market definitions in English along with the original language version.” Grasping the unprecedented C value of having such systematic overview, Caselex’s services are now used by hundreds of leading law firms, courts, competition authorities, academics, and companies around the world. This year’s innovations “This year, we have added a couple of unique features to our service,” Marc proudly adds. “Most prominently, we have added all relevant content from North America, turning our service into a must-have for any competition law professional in the US and Canada as well. Furthermore, we completed our timelines, meaning our clients have an instant synoptical picture of all relevant events – announcements, referrals, phase 1, phase 2 decisions and eventual appeal decisions – in a transaction across the world.” Upcoming launch:The Remedies Module And there is much more to come: the forthcoming Remedies Module will offer an unparalleled cross-jurisdictional perspective of remedies imposed by competition authorities. “Briefly put, we have collected all conditionally cleared cases since 2,000 in 54 jurisdictions across theworld and systematically analysed the concerns that have been addressed by specific remedies. This adds up to around 2,000 decisions, including those from the US,” Marc explains. “Just imagine being able to see what remedies have been imposed in four to three telecoms mergers, just imagine being able to advise your client – fact based – up front in the deal phase what will likely work and what will definitely not. I expect this to be a game changer, particularly across the ocean.” 2022 innovations lined up Caselex has simultaneously already conceived and planned for the Abuse of Dominance Module that is planned to be launched by the end of 2022. “Given the market definition is key to the analysis by competition authorities for establishing dominance, we aim to cover market definitions from decisions delivered by competition authorities in antitrust contexts other than merger control. Moreover, for optimising client satisfaction and living up to our core motto of ‘Look no further’, we strive to explore unchartered territories, expand into new jurisdictions and continue to surprise our clients.” As Marc puts it, “Clearly, by now, three wins is not enough – We will be back next year!” Company: Caselex BV Contact: Marc De Vries Email:
[email protected] Website: www.caselex.eu