Dr. Michael Masling

Michael’s work spans a variety of industries, including automotive, chemicals, financial services, as well as healthcare and life sciences.

In 2023, Michael was recognized as a “Competition Future Leader” by Who’s Who Legal. Additionally Michael regularly speaks at seminars and publishes articles on developments in European and German competition law. He is an editor of a section on international antitrust developments of Germany’s leading antitrust law journal Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb.

In 2014, Michael was seconded to Morgan Lewis’s Washington, DC, office. Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Michael served as a legal clerk at the District Court of Hamburg. During his legal training he worked on antitrust matters for an international oil company, a German strategy consultancy, and the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in New York. 

A native German speaker, Michael is also fluent in English and French.

Mergers and Acquisitions

• DigitalBridge in its €10.7 billion ($11.5 billion) acquisition of a 51% ownership stake in Deutsche Telekom’s German and Austrian mobile telecom towers business valued at (GD Towers) (EU Commission and FDI filings worldwide)
• Perrigo Co. plc in its $2.1 billion acquisition of Hera SAS (HRA Pharma (ex-US merger filings)
• Black Diamond Capital Management in its transaction involving one of its portfolio companies, Specialty Chemicals International Limited, a holding company of the Polynt-Reichhold group in which the company agreed to repurchase Investindustrial's shares in the company (EU Commission and global FDI filings)
• Rexnord Corp in its definitive agreement with Regal Beloit Corp. under which Rexnord will separate its Process & Motion Control (PMC) segment by way of a tax-free spinoff to Rexnord shareholders and then combine it with Regal in a Reverse Morris Trust (RMT) transaction, creating a $10 billion PMC business (global merger control and FDI filings)
• Eugen Münch and investment firm HCM in relation to a joint venture with hospital group Asklepios and voluntary takeover of Rhön-Klinikum (German Federal Cartel Office)
• TFL in its acquisition of Lanxess’ organic leather chemicals business (several national merger control filings)
• The Meet Group in the sale of the company and its digital platform Lovoo to Parship Group, a jointly owned venture between ProSiebenSat.1 and General Atlantic (several national merger control filings)
• BASF in its €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) acquisition of Solvay’s global polyamide and engineering plastics business, including advice on the remedy transaction (EU Commission phase 2 investigation)
• Tadano in its $215 million acquisition of the Demag Cranes business (several national merger filings)
• BASF in its $3.2 billion acquisition of Chemetall (EU Commission and national merger filings)
• Connect Airways in relation to its proposed acquisition of Flybe Group PLC and its subsidiaries (EU Commission)
• Deutsche Börse AG in its proposed acquisition of the New York Stock Exchange Group (EU Commission phase 2 investigation) including the appeal litigation at the European General Court
• Regularly acting for private equity clients in relation to merger control proceedings at the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission and coordinating multijurisdictional merger filings, as well as global FDI filings

Antitrust

• A global pharmaceutical company in relation to an European Commission investigation for an alleged abuse of dominance
• Numerous European and German clients in multinational cartel investigations in various industries, including construction materials, food, chemicals and electronics
• US vaping company on European selective distribution system

Litigation

• German cement manufacturer in its defense against various cartel follow-on litigation claims
• German cookie manufacturer in its complaint against German sugar cartel
• Companies in their complaints against EU truck cartel