Niels Baeten

In 2024, Mr. Baeten was named by Global Competition Review among the world’s leading 40 Under 40 antitrust practitioners. He has also been named as a Future Leader in Competition Law by Who’s Who Legal since 2020, in which clients describe him as “extraordinarily quick with deep knowledge and understanding of complicated business dynamics” and “one of the most articulate attorneys in the competition space.” In addition, he has been recognized as a key lawyer by The Legal 500 EMEA and was named one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers and 500 X — The Next Generation in 2025. 

Mr. Baeten has more than a decade of experience helping global corporations navigate complex multijurisdictional merger control matters, including complex remedy structures. His practice covers a wide range of industries, including aerospace, technology, e-commerce, media and telecommunications, financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, automotive and manufacturing. Mr. Baeten’s experience includes advising on the following transactions:

• Mars, Incorporated on its US$35.9 billion acquisition of Kellanova
• a global investment firm as part of a consortium with Global Infrastructure Partners and the Artificial Infrastructure Partnership in the US$40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers, LLC from funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management
• Cloud Software Group, Inc. on its acquisition of Arctera from funds affiliated with The Carlyle Group Inc.
• Capgemini SE on its US$3.3 billion acquisition of WNS (Holdings) Limited
• Renault SA on its:
  • agreement with Geely Automobile Holdings Limited regarding their strategic cooperation and Geely’s minority investment in Renault do Brasil S.A.
  • acquisition from Nissan of the remaining 51% stake in Renault Nissan Automotive India Limited
• Royal Gold Inc. on its US$3.5 billion acquisition of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and concurrent US$196 million acquisition of Horizon Copper Corp.
• Dover Corporation on its €550 million (US$623 million) acquisition of Sikora AG
• Ardian as lead investor in a continuation vehicle set up by Andera Partners in Andera’s acquisition of SPHEREA and Averna
• Juniper Networks, Inc. on its US$14 billion acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• Elon Musk on his US$44 billion acquisition of X Corp. (formerly Twitter, Inc.)
• Air Canada on its US$523 million proposed (but later abandoned) acquisition of Transat A.T. Inc.
• Red Hat, Inc. on its US$34 billion acquisition by IBM
• Rockwell Collins, Inc. on its US$30 billion acquisition by United Technologies
• Trimble Inc. on its US$1.98 billion acquisition of Transporeon and US$2 billion joint venture with AGCO Corporation
• Aspen Technology, Inc. in relation to its US$6 billion transaction with Emerson Electric Company
• HeidelbergCement in relation to its acquisition of a 45% stake in Command Alkon
• Purolite on its US$3.7 billion acquisition by Ecolab
• Castle Harlan on the US$550 million sale of Tensar to Commercial Metals Company
• S&P Global on the US$975 million sale of its Engineering Solutions business to KKR
• Oaktree Capital Management in relation to the recapitalization of Neovia Logistics alongside Ares Management and Vector Capital
• The Baupost Group on its US$910 million acquisition of the Western Union Company’s Business Solutions business alongside Goldfinch Partners

Mr. Baeten also has extensive experience in EU state aid and foreign subsidies matters, particularly for clients in the financial, energy and airline industries, as well as in taxation matters. His recent experience includes representing:

• Victaulic Europe before the EU General Court in its appeal against the European Commission’s (EC’s) negative state aid decision in connection with the Belgian “excess profit” ruling corporate tax regime
• Kingfisher plc in its appeal against the EC’s decision regarding the Group Financing Exemption in the U.K.’s Controlled Foreign Company rules
• various clients on pending notifications before the EC pursuant to the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation

Mr. Baeten also regularly advises on structuring industry collaborations in compliance with antitrust rules. Most notably, he has counseled Renault Group on the transformation of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which was announced in February 2023.