Profile

Nicolas Birkhäuser combines his first-rate practice in competition law with strong expertise in IP.  He is distinguished as a leading lawyer by Chambers, Legal 500, Best Lawyers and other legal directories.

Deals & Cases

05.07.2022
FEMSA and Valora join forces – Agreement on the acquisition of Valora Holding AG by FEMSA, a leading Latin American retailer by way of public tender cash offer
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06.12.2021
A.P. Møller Holding acquires Unilabs
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07.10.2021
EQT sells majority stake in VFS Global
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Experience

Nicolas Birkhäuser has extensive experience representing companies in cartel and abuse of dominant position investigations as well as in merger control proceedings, including multijurisdictional coordination. Nicolas Birkhäuser also focuses on IP, including in particular transactions and IP related contracts.

Nicolas Birkhäuser advises companies across a broad range of industries, including the automotive sector, financial services, insurance, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, food, mechanical engineering, construction, wholesale and retail, media, telecommunications, IT and sports.

Nicolas Birkhäuser successfully represents leading companies in these industries in high-profile transactions, including, among other things, the setup and growth of their business, cooperation, distribution, sourcing, R&D, market dominance and compliance.

The following is a selection of cases in which Nicolas Birkhäuser acted as a counsel:

  • Merger control proceedings, such as the acquisition of SIX Payment Services by Atos / Worldline, European leader in the payments and transactional services industry, 2018
  • Cartel and abuse of dominance investigations by the Competition Commission
  • Counsel to leading bank in investigation of alleged LIBOR rate manipulation, 2017-2017, partly ongoing
  • Counsel to leading bank in investigation of alleged misconduct relating to FX, 2014-ongoing
  • Counsel to premium car manufacturer in investigation of alleged collusion with regard to leasing conditions, 2014-ongoing
  • Counsel to major construction company in investigations of alleged bid rigging, 2009-ongoing
  • Counsel to BMW as defendant in a major parallel import case, 2010-2017
  • High-profile transactions including competition law and IP, among others, the takeover of Actelion by Johnson & Johnson, 2017, and the cooperation between Navistar Inc. and MAN/Volkswagen, 2017
  • Counsel to Procter & Gamble for competition law and IP, ongoing
  • Counsel to Coop Genossenschaft, major Swiss retailer, for competition law, ongoing
  • Counsel to Chr. Hansen Holding A/S on matters concerning intellectual property, including in particular technology transfer and licensing, in the context of its agreement with Lonza AG to establish a 50/50 joint venture
  • Counsel to ASSA ABLOY AB on matters concerning intellectual property in the context of its acquisition of a 54% controlling stake in agta record ag
  • Disputes including competition law and IP
2003 University of Cambridge, LL.M.
2000 Admitted to the Bar (Attorney-at-law)
1998 University of Basel, Master Degree
Best Lawyers 2017 – 2023
Chambers Europe 2013 – 2023
The Legal500 EMEA 2023 – Leading Individual
The Legal500 EMEA 2022 – Leading Individual
IP Stars 2022 – Transaction Star – Switzerland
Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Switzerland 2022
Who’s Who Legal: Global 2022
Who’s Who Legal: Switzerland 2016 – 2022
The Legal500 EMEA 2021 – Leading Individual
IP Stars 2021 – Transaction Star – Switzerland
Who’s Who Legal: Global 2021
The Legal500 EMEA 2020 – Recommended
IP Stars 2020 – Transaction Star – Switzerland
Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Switzerland 2021
Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Switzerland 2020
Who’s Who Legal: Global 2020
The Legal500 EMEA 2019 – Recommended
The Legal500 EMEA 2018 – Recommended
  • Committee of the Swiss Association of Competition Law (asas)
  • Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht e.V.
  • LES Licensing Executives Society Switzerland
  • INGRES Institute for Industrial Property Law
  • AIPPI International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property
  • Swiss Bar Association
  • Zurich Bar Association
2011 Partner, Niederer Kraft Frey
2003 Associate, Niederer Kraft Frey
2000 Associate with major law firm in Zurich

German

English

French

Deals & Cases

11.01.2023

Capvis acquires a majority stake in SCHURTER Group

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10.01.2023

Partners Group acquires a majority stake in Breitling

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04.01.2023

Invision launches CHF 145m continuation fund

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Market Perception

«Nicolas Birkhäuser is regarded as ‘one of the finest lawyers in Switzerland’ and ‘a great lawyer who it is a pleasure to work with’. »
Who’s Who Legal 2022
«Nicolas Birkhäuser has an outstanding knowledge of competition law matters. His availability for questions is exceptional and his answers are always very well-founded. He takes into consideration the business models and always strives for best solutions.»
Legal 500 2022
«Nicolas Birkhäuser stands out as ‘one of the best’ at representing companies in cartel and abuse of dominance investigations, as well as merger control proceedings. »
Who’s Who Legal 2022
«Nicolas Birkhäuser handled the matters exactly how we needed him to. He was fully committed, fully dedicated, always available and passionate about the job to be done. We achieved all our goals and he did a great job. »
Chambers 2022

Awards & Rankings

16.01.2023

Twelve NKF lawyers listed as “Thought Leaders Switzerland 2022” by Who’s Who Legal

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04.08.2022

NKF recognised as Highly Recommended Firm for IP Transactions by IP Stars 2022 – Switzerland

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16.03.2018

NKF receives European Corporate Deal of the Year Award at The Lawyer European Awards ceremony

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Firm News

01.01.2011

Niederer Kraft Frey appoints two new Partners and welcomes Prof. Dr. Rolf Sethe as new Of Counsel

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In the Media

25.09.2017

Cross-border cooperation of national competition authorities

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Publications

25.05.2021

Cartel leniency in Switzerland: overview 2021

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25.05.2021

Merger control in Switzerland: overview 2021

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25.05.2021

Restraints of trade and dominance in Switzerland: overview 2021

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Speaking Engagements

28.08.2019

Lizenzkartellrecht in der Schweiz (Technology Transfer under Swiss Competition Law)

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21.06.2019

Definition der Wettbewerbsabrede und Eingrenzung der Vermutungstatbestände gemäss Art. 5 Abs. 3 und …

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17.04.2019

Definition und Eingrenzung der Kerntatbestände gemäss Art. 5 Abs. 3 und 4 KG

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Newsletters & Alerts

22.04.2020

Competition Law – COVID-19 Update

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02.05.2017

Major re-interpretation of Swiss competition law

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