Competition & Regulatory

1. Coca-Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Limited
2. BetterCare
3. Calor Gas
4. Mergers
5. Dawn Raid Assistance
6. SNIP
7. Bord Gais Eireann
8. District Council Waste Management Strategy
9. Phoenix Natural Gas

1. Coca-Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Limited
The firm continues to advice the local Coca-Cola franchisee, Coca-Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Limited on its implementation of the undertaking given to the European Commission by all players in the European Coca-Cola network. This has included putting in place a suite of standard form commercial agreements which are compliant with the undertaking and providing various training seminars to employees

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2. BetterCare
The firm advised BetterCare Group Limited, a Northern Irish based nursing home provider, in successfully challenging the Office of Fair Trading's decision that local authorities in the United Kingdom are not "undertakings" for the purposes of the Competition Act 1998 and, therefore, are not subject to EU and UK competition law in relation to the purchasing and supply of services. The work involved the first successful appeal in this area to the Competition Commission Appeals Tribunal under the Competition Act 1998.

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3. Calor Gas
The firm advises Calor Gas (Northern Ireland) Limited on their competition compliance programme and procedures. This has included putting in place a compliance booklet and providing various training seminars to employees on practical aspects of the Calor compliance programme.

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4. Mergers
The firm has advised on competition issues arising in relation to a number of high profile mergers in Northern Ireland including acquisitions in the food and drinks sector.

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5. Dawn Raid Assistance
The firm advised a leading local Northern Irish company on its response to what is thought to be the first “dawn raid” in Northern Ireland by the Office of Fair Trading under the provisions of the Competition Act 1998. The unit also advises a number of other leading companies in Northern Ireland on competition compliance including dawn raid procedures.

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6. SNIP
The firm advised the project lenders (along with Linklaters) on the refinancing and buy-out of this pipeline – the project follows a similar structure to Moyle Interconnector and the sale of the Belfast gas transmission pipeline using a “not for profit” purchasing mechanism via the bonds market. Advice provided included detailed work on the regulatory framework.

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7. Bord Gais Eireann
The firm is advising Bord Gais Eireann on all regulatory issues arising form the North-West and South-North gas pipelines. Regulatory advice to date has focused on the licensing requirements for BGE under the Energy Order (Northern Ireland) 2003 and included advice on proposed amendments to that piece of legislation.

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8. District Council Waste Management Strategy
The firm advised 11 district councils in Northern Ireland in relation to the implementation of a waste management strategy required to comply with European legislation.

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9. Phoenix Natural Gas
The firm is currently acting for Phoenix Natural Gas on a major corporate restructuring to meet the unbundling requirements of the second gas directive and on the mutualisation of the high pressure transmission pipeline through a disposal of the pipeline to not for profit group, Northern Ireland Energy Holdings.

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