Olivier N. Antoine is a counsel with Crowell & Moring's Antitrust Group in the firm's New York office.
Olivier's practice involves antitrust counseling on a broad range of competition and antitrust law matters in the United States and abroad, with particular focus on mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, as well as U.S. and international monopolization issues.
Olivier has extensive experience representing corporate clients in difficult merger and antitrust investigations before the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, the European Commission, and other foreign antitrust agencies. In addition, his practice includes civil and criminal antitrust enforcement matters, private antitrust litigation, and compliance and audit counseling.
Olivier has been ranked by clients and peers in Chambers USA 2013 as a leading lawyer in Antitrust (New York). Olivier has also been recognized by Global Competition Review's Who's Who Legal of Competition Lawyers in New York since 2010. Olivier's practice was highlighted in the "Highly Recommended" section of Global Competition Review's 2012 Survey of the New York Antitrust Bar:
"Perhaps no New York antitrust team has boosted its profile more in the past year than Crowell & Moring… and Who's Who Legal Nominee Olivier N. Antoine … manage the kinds of competition cases that could make its rival envious. The New York team has the ability and expertise to handle every kind of antitrust issue, from merger to criminal prosecutions, and do it well."
Olivier has significant experience handling strategic antitrust matters before antitrust agencies overseas. He has defended companies in antitrust and merger investigations in more than thirty jurisdictions outside of the United States, including the European Union, Canada, Germany, France, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Spain, South Africa, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China. The breadth of his international experience includes several protracted Phase II investigations before the European Commission, the South African Competition Commission, and the Brazilian Competition Authorities.
Olivier's work has covered a broad range of industries, including satellite radio, recorded music and music publishing, telecommunications, fixed satellites, television broadcasting, oil and gas, paper and forestry products, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, food products, bread, spirits, beer, vitamins, textiles, chemicals, fertilizers, sports goods, airlines, automotive and automotive parts, semiconductors, media buying, banking, and private equity.
Representative M&A and Joint Venture Experience
- Represents Flowers Foods in its $390 million acquisition of the Hostess bread assets
- Represented DuPont in the $4.9 billion sale of DuPont Paint and Coating business to the Carlyle Group.
- DOJ investigations of teaming agreement and interlocking directorate (Clayton 8) issues.
- Represented Veolia in the $1.9 billion sale of its waste assets to Highstar Capital.
- Represented Siemens in its global collaboration with Varian Medical Systems.
- Represented UTC in its $15.5 billion acquisition of Goodrich.
- Represented Siemens AG in its acquisitions of Vistagy and e-Meter.
- Represented AT&T Inc. in its proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc.
- Represented Reed Elsevier PLC in its $4.1 billion acquisition of ChoicePoint.
- Represented AT&T Inc. in its $944 million acquisition of Centennial Communications
- Represented Sirius Satellite Radio in its $13 billion merger with XM Satellite Radio.
- Represented Travelport in its $1.4 billion acquisition of Worldspan.
- Represented Smithfield Foods in its $810 million acquisition of Premium Standard Foods.
- Represented Smithfield Foods in its $367 million acquisition of Farmland Foods.
- Represented PanAmSat in its $3.2 billion sale to Intelsat.
- Represented Adidas AG in its $3.8 billion acquisition of Reebok.
- Represented VNU in the attempted $7 billion acquisition of IMS Health.
- Represented Celanese before the European Commission in its $492 million acquisition of Acetex. (Phase II investigation)
- Represented Grey Global in its $1.7 billion sale to WPP.
- Represented CSL in its $925 million acquisition of the Aventis Behring plasma business.
- Represented Vivendi Universal in its $8.1 billion sale of the Seagram Spirits and Wine business to Diageo and Pernod Ricard.
- Represented TotalFina before the European Commission in its €50 billion acquisition of Elf. (Phase II investigation).
Representative Litigation Experience
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. v. Kolon Industries, Inc., No. 3.09cv58 (E.D.VA) -- Represented E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in trade secret infringement litigation against Kolon Industries, Inc., and related monopolization counterclaim (ED Va). DuPont won a $919.9 million verdict, and the antitrust counterclaim was dismissed with prejudice.
- In re Air Cargo Antitrust Litigation, MDL-1715 (E.D.N.Y.) -- Represented a European airline in defending class action claims that air cargo rates were fixed.
- In re Digital Music Antitrust Litigation, No. 06 MD 1780 (S.D.N.Y) -- Represented Warner Music Group in connection with DOJ and NYAG investigations regarding the pricing of digital music and in class action claims filed against music companies alleging collusion in digital music pricing.
- In re Methyl-Methacrylate Antitrust Litigation, MDL-1768 (E.D. Pa.) -- Represented Lucite Inc. in class actions alleging a conspiracy to fix prices of methyl-methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA).
- In re Publication Paper Antitrust Litigation (MDL No. 1631, D. Conn.) -- Represented a major pulp and paper producer in a nationwide antitrust action alleging an unlawful conspiracy to fix the price of publication paper.
Olivier received a Maitrise en droit (J.D.), cum laude, valedictorian, from the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, a Diplome D'Etudes Approfondies (LL.M), cum laude, from the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, and an LL.M, cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law. Before joining Crowell & Moring, Olivier worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York, where he was a litigation and antitrust attorney for eight years.
A member of the New York Bar, Olivier is the chair of the International Antitrust and Competition Law Committee of the International Law and Practice (ILP) Section of the New York State Bar Association and also serves as a member of the Steering Group for the International Antitrust Law Committee of the ABA Section of International Law. Olivier also serves as a member of the legal committee of the Board of the Lycée Français de New York.