Competition Team Wins GCR Award for M&A Transaction of the Year

On Friday, February 4, the Hunton & Williams global competition practice was awarded a GCR Award by Global Competition Review for its role in "Opposition to the BHP Billiton/Rio Tinto Joint Venture." The matter was recognized as the "M&A Transaction of the Year—Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa." Bruce Hoffman accepted the award on behalf of the firm at the GCR Awards dinner in Miami.

The GCR Awards aim to recognize the work of in-house lawyers, private practice lawyers and economists, and competition authorities around the world. The award winners were selected during a three-month online voting period. Throughout this period, more than 1,500 responses were registered as members of the competition law community cast their votes to select 2010's top mergers, litigations, agency work and outstanding individuals.

The matter involved a transaction to combine two of the largest iron ore producers in the world. After failing to receive antitrust clearance from the Department of Justice, the parties dissolved the joint venture.

The Hunton & Williams team included Bruce Hoffman, Neil Gilman, Tom Hughes, Amanda Wait, and Alex Papanikolaou. Other firms working with Hunton & Williams on the matter were Van Bael & Bellis, Frontier Economics, Nishimura & Asahi, NERA, Bae Kim & Lee, Gilbert + Tobin, Competition Economists Group, and Mayer Brown.