Athina Van Melkebeke

Athina’s representative matters have included advising:

Merger Control

• NortonLifeLock on its c. $25 billion combination with Avast
• Celanese Corporation on global merger control for its $1.15 billion proposed acquisition of the Santoprene™ TPV elastomers business of Exxon Mobil Corporation
• Alpine Investors and its portfolio company Alpine Software Group on the acquisition of Sendible, a leading UK social media management and data analytics provider
• Antin Infrastructure Partners on:
  • The acquisition of Wildstone, a leading owner of independent outdoor media infrastructure in the UK, from DigitalBridge Group
  • its reinvestment in Eurofiber, one of the leading B2B digital infrastructure companies in Europe, including the sale of a minority stake to PGGM
• Arxada, Bain Capital and Cinven on Arxada’s Combination with Troy Corporation, a global leader in microbial control solutions and performance additives
• Bain Capital on:
  • The change from sole to joint control of Fedrigoni with BC Partners
  • The c. €1.7 billion acquisition of ITP Aero, an aero engine and gas turbine manufacturer, from Rolls-Royce
  • The sale of a significant equity stake in Imperial Dade to Advent International
  • Its investment in SumUp
  • The acquisition of LeanTaas
  • The sale of Geometric Results, Inc. to PRO Unlimited
  • Its portfolio company Rocket Software’s acquisition of Uniface, a pioneer in accelerating innovation through its low-code application platform
• Bain Capital Private Equity and its portfolio company, Blue Nile, in connection with its sale to Signet Jewelers Ltd
• Bain Capital and Cinven on their CHF 4.2 billion acquisition of Lonza Specialty Ingredients
• Bain Capital and its consortium partners on their €2.1 billion public takeover of Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj
• Blackstone on:
  • The acquisition of a majority stake in VFS Global, a global leader in visa outsourcing services
  • The $4.73 billion take private of Signature Aviation, the world’s largest fixed base operation network for business & general aviation travelers
  • The £4.77 billion acquisition of Merlin Entertainments, a global leader in location-based, family entertainment
• EQT on:
  • Its acquisition of Dellner Couplers, a global leader in train connection systems for passenger rail
  • The CHF 10.2 billion acquisition of Nestlé Skin Health, a leading global skincare company
• EQT Credit on its investment in and the restructuring and recapitalization of ACPS Automotive GmbH
• Inflexion on its re-investment in the British Engineering Services Group, a specialist in engineering testing, inspection and consultancy services
• Oaktree on:
  • The acquisition of Interblock, d.d., a leading developer and supplier of luxury electronic table games
  • The entry into a definitive business combination agreement by a special purpose acquisition company with Alvotech Holdings S.A. (“Alvotech”), a leading global biopharmaceutical company
• Pinnacle Renewable Energy, the Toronto-listed entity, on its $652 million acquisition by Drax Group plc
• Triton Partners on the acquisition of the tour operating activities of Corendon and combination with Sunweb
• Warburg Pincus on the sale of Accelya, a leading global provider of financial, commercial and analytics solutions to the airline and travel industry, to Vista Partners

Antitrust

• Advising multiple clients on competition law compliance
• Advising a global industrial company on exclusionary behavior from market stakeholders following its entry into the European market
• Advising various clients on participation in standard-setting initiatives, including advice to the DCSA container liner shipping initiative
• Advising Avaya Holdings Corp. on its strategic partnership with RingCentral, Inc.

Prior to joining Kirkland, Athina’s experience has included advising:

• Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile in the proposed acquisition of Sprint, creating a $146 billion company
• Abbott Laboratories in its $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical, involving merger clearances in the EU and more than a dozen jurisdictions
• Coca-cola in the dissolution of its Beverage Partners Worldwide joint venture with Nestlé and other transactions notifiable in the EU
• Merger control in the EU and various other jurisdictions in the steel, chemicals, and other sectors, including coordinating foreign investment filings
• Advising an FMCG client during the course of parallel cartel investigations in Europe
• Compliance advice including in the context of pre-transaction dealings, hold separate requirements, distribution agreements, and common ownership scenarios
• Responding to various information requests from the European Commission and national competition authorities, including in the context of an abuse of dominance investigation of a European technology champion and in connection with a review of conditions imposed in a merger context
• Antitrust advice in connection with IP litigation and follow-on damages claims

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

• Associate (2014–2019)