Profile
Robert Gago is Head of the Competition Law Practice at the Greenberg Traurig Warsaw Office. He advises clients in the field of competition and consumer protection law and economic regulation. His experience includes representation in administrative anti-trust proceedings conducted by competition enforcement agencies. Robert advises on competition law aspects of M&A projects and represents clients in merger proceedings before the Polish Competition Authority as well as in procedures before the European Commission. He also represents undertakings in court proceedings regarding appeals against the decisions of authorities. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, he was head of the competition law practice at the Hogan Lovells Warsaw Office for 17 years.
Concentrations
- Abuse of dominance and restrictive practices
- Anti-trust/Anti-competitive practices
- Cartels
- Competition compliance
- Merger control
- Dawn raids
- Consumer law
- State aid
Capabilities
Experience
- Represented Agora media group in merger control proceedings before the UOKiK and SOKiK in connection with the acquisition of Eurozet. The proceedings ended before the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, which dismissed the UOKiK's appeal and confirmed the approval of the acquisition of Eurozet.
- Represented ZE PAK S.A. in connection with obtaining unconditional approval of the OCCP for a joint venture for the purpose of the planned construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland.
- Represented Unimot capital group in merger control proceedings before the OCCP concerning the acquisition of Lotos Terminale S.A. by Grupa Lotos S.A.
- Represented PIB Agency, a company belonging to the international PIB Group, operating in the insurance industry, in connection with obtaining unconditional approval from the President of the OCCP for the acquisition of Asist sp. z o.o., an insurance multiagency.
- Represented Centerbridge Partners Europe LLP in connection with obtaining unconditional approval from the President of the OCCP for the establishment of 7 joint undertakings set up with ROBYG S.A., which will conduct business in the field of development and sale of residential real estate units in Poland.
- Represented WING Group and Griffin Capital Partners in proceedings before OCCP relating to their joint venture for the purpose of acquisition of a 60 percent stake in Berlin-based property developer BAUWERT AG.
- Represented CVC Capital Partners on the competition law aspects of the sale of 100% of the shares in PKP Energetyka S.A. to PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. including merger control advice.
- Represented Cyfrowy Polsat in merger control proceedings before the OCCP concerning the joint venture agreement with Discovery Communications Europe and TVN regarding the establishment of a new OTT platform.
- Represented Smithfield Foods in proceedings before the European Commission and the OCCP relating to the acquisition of Pini Polonia, which concluded with a positive decision by the OCCP.
- Represented SJL Partners LLC, KCC Corporation and Wonik QnC Corporation in the merger control notification proceedings regarding intention of the represented parties to acquire joint control over the company MPM Holdings Inc.
- Represented Innova Capital in proceedings before the OCCP concerning the acquisition of Drukarnia Embe Press S. Bezdek M. Mamcarz sp. z o.o. and „CHEMES M. SZPERLIŃSKI” sp. z o.o.
- Represented two Polish insurers in merger notification proceedings before the European Commission.°
- Represented Airbus and WorldVu Satellites in merger control proceedings before the OCCP concerning the intention to create a joint venture.°
- Represented Union Investment Real Estate ('UIR'), a member of the DZ Bank Group, in the merger control notification to the Polish Competition Authority.°
- Represented Danfoss Silicon Power and Bosch Thermotechnik in merger control proceedings before the Polish Competition Authority.°
- Represented an investment fund in merger proceedings before the Polish Competition Authority regarding the acquisition of the A1 highway.°
- Represented RREEF Investment, a member of the Deutsche Bank group, in the merger control notification before the Polish Competition Authority regarding the acquisition of Stary Browar.°
- Successfully represented Lesaffre, a French food ingredients, yeast and biotechnology company, a worldwide leader in yeast, in proceedings before the Court of Appeal concerning a decision by the Office of Competition and Consumers Protection on the allegedly illegal exclusivity clause in distribution agreements. The Court of Appeal confirmed the first instance court’s decision that declared no anticompetitive agreement existed.°
- Represented AB Orlen Lietuva, a Lithuanian subsidiary of the Polish oil and energy company PKN Orlen, in antitrust proceedings instituted against Lithuanian Railways by the European Commission upon AB Orlen Lietuva’s complaint.°
- Represented two leading Polish banks, BGŻ BNP Paribas and mBank, in their appeal to the Polish Court of Competition and Consumer Protection - and subsequently before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court against a decision by the OCCP finding an infringement of EC and Polish law and imposing fines on 20 Polish banks in relation to fixing interchange fees in payment card transactions.°
- Advised Orlen Oil, a producer of engine oils, in its appeal against the OCCP’s decision concerning the alleged infringement of competition law by fixing resale prices in distribution agreements.°
- Advised three insurance companies in proceedings before the OCCP regarding possible violations of the collective interests of consumers by charging surrender fees in life insurance agreements with insurance investment capital.°
- Advised Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. and Reddev Investments Limited on matters related to competition law in connection with the acquisition of almost 22% of shares in Asseco Poland S.A., a WSE listed company.
- Represented Telewizja Polsat sp. z o.o. in competition law aspect of strategic cooperation with Eleven Sports Network Ltd. and the acquisition of a majority share in the Polish company Eleven Sports Network sp. z o.o.
- Advising PKN Orlen and companies from the PKN Orlen Group on its price and distribution policy and agreements.°
- Advising Stock Polska on its distribution and pricing systems.°
- Advising Lesaffre Polska on distribution systems and promotional actions.°
- Advising several leading insurers on consumer protection law in administrative proceedings before the Polish authority.°
- Advising a clothing and accessories retailer with respect to the compliance of the online purchase process, including terms and conditions and information provided to consumers under consumer law.°
- Prepared guidelines and internal instructions, in particular in case of dawn raid or participation in meetings with competitors.°
°The above representations were handled by Mr. Gago prior to his joining GREENBERG TRAURIG Nowakowska-Zimoch Wysokiński sp.k.
Recognition & Leadership
For many years Robert Gago has been featured amongst the highly recommended competition experts by the following legal guides: Chambers Europe, EMEA Legal 500, Global Competition Review, Polityka Insight (Directory of regulatory law offices in Poland), LMG Life Science Stars, Expert Guides, Acritas Star.
- Recommended, Who's Who Legal, "Competition," 2024
- District Chamber of Attorneys-at-law in Warsaw
- Polish Competition Law Association, Member of the Management Board
- International Competition Network, Member of the Unilateral Conduct Working Group and the Cartel Working Group
- International Bar Association Antitrust Committee Newsletter – permanent contributor
Credentials
- Attorney-at-Law, 2001
- English Law and the Law of the European Union - a two year course at the British Centre for European and English Law Studies at the Warsaw University, 1994-1995
- Master of Law, University of Warsaw, 1995
- Poland
- Polish, Native
- English, Fluent