Biography
Jakob Dewispelaere is counsel in the Antitrust practice, where he advises on all aspects of EU competition law, including merger control, restrictive practices, market dominance and general counselling and compliance. He represents clients before the European Commission, EU Member States’ competition authorities, and other key regulators globally.
Jakob’s experience encompasses a broad range of industries and business sectors, including agriculture, insurance, metals, software and industrial/manufacturing sectors.
Prior to joining Weil, Jakob practiced as a senior associate at a US firm in Brussels. From 2017-2019, Jakob was connected to the University of Leuven (KUL) as a teaching assistant in EU competition law.
Representative experience includes advising:*
- Microsoft on its USD 10 billion investment in OpenAI
- Advent and NielsenIQ before the European Commission on NielsenIQ’s combination with GfK, securing conditional Phase 1 approval
- Microsoft on its USD 68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc. before the European Commission, securing conditional Phase 2 approval
- TowerBrook Capital Partners on its sale of Metallo, a metal recycler and refiner, to rival Aurubis – subject to Phase II review by the European Commission; the deal is one of only two cases in recent years that have proceeded to a formal Statement of Objections from the Commission but resulted in an unconditional approval
- Nidec Corporation on its USD 1.08 billion acquisition of Embraco, a manufacturer of compressors for refrigeration systems, from Whirlpool – subject to Phase II review by the European Commission and other key regulators globally
- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co on its:
- acquisition of certain Willis Towers Watson reinsurance, specialty, and retail brokerage operations for USD 3.57 billion as part of a proposed regulatory remedy for the Aon/Willis Towers Watson combination
- USD 3.25 billion acquisition of the treaty reinsurance brokerage operations of Willis Towers Watson
- Viterra (f/k/a Glencore Agriculture) on its USD 1.1 billion acquisition of Gavilon, an originator and distributor of grains and oilseeds, from Marubeni
- Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) on its acquisition of PIL, a provider of probiotic supplements
- Clearlake Capital Group on a number of significant transactions, including its:
- acquisition of Chelsea Football Club and related affiliates; the acquisition was named “Private Equity Deal of the Year” at The Deal Awards 2022
- strategic equity investment in RSA Security, a global provider of mission critical cybersecurity software and governance risk and compliance management software
- USD 5.2 billion take-private acquisition of Cornerstone OnDemand, a provider of cloud-based learning and talent management software
- USD 3.0 billion take-private acquisition of Endurance, a provider of cloud-based platform solutions
- acquisition of Quest, a provider of enterprise software solutions, from Francisco Partners
- acquisition of BETA+ assets from the London Stock Exchange Group
- Ivanti on multiple acquisitions and strategic transactions, including its:
- USD 872 million take-private acquisition of MobileIron, a leading provider of mobile-centric unified endpoint management solutions
- acquisition of Cherwell Software, a global leader in enterprise service management solutions
- acquisition of Pulse Secure, a leading provider of secure access and mobile security solutions
- strategic co-investments by TA Associates and Charlesbank Capital Partners
- Invenergy on a USD 3.0 billion equity investment from Blackstone Infrastructure Partners
- Siris Capital Group on its USD 1.7 billion acquisition of Electronics for Imaging (EFI), a global leader in customer focused digital printing
(* including from previous firm)
Publications include:
- Competition Policy International, Antitrust Chronicle, Requests for Information in Merger Cases: Regulatory Overreach?, August 2020
- Kluwer Competition Law, CJEU Confirms Double Trouble for Gun Jumpers, May 2020
- Concurrences, The EU Court of Justice dismisses the appeal by a seafood company against the Commission’s fine for failure to notify an acquisition (Marine Harvest), March 2020