John Boyce

• T  +32 (0) 2 737 94 11 (Direct line)
• E  john.boyce@slaughterandmay.com

• Brussels 
• Square de Meeûs 40, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

John has been based in our Brussels office since 1996. He studied at King’s College London and at Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and joined Slaughter and May in 1985, becoming a partner in 1994.

John has regularly been involved in the notification of deals to the European Commission in Brussels, since the adoption of the EU Merger Regulation in 1989. Phase II cases include acting for:

• Bertelsmann on the disposal of its music publishing interests (to Vivendi/Universal) and also in the various Sony/BMG Phase II cases (including the clearance in 2004 and, subsequently, the clearance in 2007)
• Telelogic on its acquisition by IBM (approved unconditionally in 2008)
• Cargill on its acquisition of Degussa Food Ingredients
• BOC on its proposed takeover by Air Liquide in the industrial gases sector
• Royal Mail on its international mail joint venture with TPG and Singapore Post

He has acted on many merger cases where the parties have been able to secure Phase I clearances by offering commitments (including Akzo Nobel/ICI, Linde/BOC and Procter & Gamble/Gillette), as well as several cases where the parties have successfully used the Article 4(4) and 4(5) pre-notification referral procedures (introduced in 2004). His practice also involves cartel investigations (including immunity/leniency applications) by the European Commission and national competition authorities. His contentious work covers national court proceedings as well as proceedings before the General Court and Court of Justice in Luxembourg, including successful appeals in cartel, merger, State aid and parallel trade matters.

In addition, he has been involved in many UK merger, cartel and behavioural inquiries before the Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission. Industry inquiries and cartel investigations he has advised on have covered a wide range of industries, from chemicals and consumer goods to financial services and the IT sector.

John is a contributing author to Bellamy & Child (European Community Law of Competition, 6th edition, 2008), Chapter on Merger Control. He is ranked as a leading individual in the Competition/European Law section for Belgium in Chambers Europe, 2009.

He is fluent in French.