Finalists: Ashurst • Linklaters • Nabarro • Norton Rose Fulbright • Shearman & Sterling • Slaughter and May (highly commended) • Sullivan & Cromwell

The RPC team pulled off a major coup in this case, not only successfully challenging the jurisdiction of the Competition and Markets Authority to review a merger, but defeating the CMA in a subsequent case in the Court of Appeal.

The judges praised the firm's "ground-breaking, impressive victories," noting that it's "rare to overturn those decisions."

The case concerned a merger inquiry launched by the Competition and Markets Authority into the acquisition of SeaFrance assets by Eurotunnel.

Eurotunnel acquired three SeaFrance vessels after the ferry operator went into liquidation. It entered into an agreement with the Societe Cooperative de Production (SCOP), a workers' cooperative formed by SeaFrance employees, to operate the vessels on the Dover-Calais route under the MyFerryLink brand.

The CMA found that Eurotunnel's ownership of MyFerryLink "substantially reduced competition" and banned it from the Dover-Calais route.

RPC, acting for SCOP, challenged the CMA's jurisdiction claiming that Eurotunnel had acquired only "a bundle of assets" and not the activities of a business, which took the deal outside the scope of the CMA.

The Competition Appeals Tribunal agreed with RPC's case initially, but ruled for the CMA on a second hearing.

RPC took the decision to the Court of Appeal where it was successful on every count. This was the first time the CMA had been defeated in the Court of Appeal.

RPC's team was led by its head of competition, Stephen Smith.

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