John Boyce

• T  +32 (0) 2 737 94 11 (Direct line)
• E  john.boyce@slaughterandmay.com

• Brussels 
• Square de Meeûs 40, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

John studied at King’s College London and at Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). He joined Slaughter and May in 1985 and became a partner in 1994. He is based in our Brussels office.

Since the adoption of the ECMR in 1989 John has regularly been involved in the notification of deals to the European Commission for a broad range of clients. Phase II clearance cases include acting for:

• Bertelsmann on the disposal of its music publishing interests (to Vivendi/Universal) and also on the Sony/BMG case (both the clearance in 2004 and, subsequently, the clearance in 2007)
• Telelogic on its acquisition by IBM (approved unconditionally in 2008)
• BOC on its proposed takeover by Air Liquide in the industrial gases sector
• Cargill on its acquisition of Degussa Food Ingredients
• Royal Mail in relation to its international mail joint venture with TPG and Singapore Post
  

He has also advised on several merger cases where the parties have been able to secure Phase I clearances by offering commitments (such as Akzo Nobel/ICI, Linde/BOC and Procter & Gamble/Gillette), as well as cases where the parties have successfully used the Article 4(4) and 4(5) pre-notification referral procedures (introduced in 2004).

He has also acted in many UK merger and behavioural inquiries before the Competition Commission (as well as the OFT). Industry inquiries and cartel investigations he has advised on have covered a wide range of industries, from chemicals and consumer goods to financial services and the IT sector.

His practice also involves contentious work, including national court proceedings as well as cartel investigations by the European Commission and OFT. His experience before the CFI in Luxembourg includes successful appeals in State aid and cartel cases and in parallel trade matters.

John is a contributing author to 'Bellamy & Child' (European Community Law of Competition, 6th edition, 2008), Chapter on Merger Control. He is ranked as a leading individual in the Competition/European Law section for Belgium in Chambers Europe, 2008.

He is fluent in French.