Sullivan & Cromwell has bagged a role on delivery company UPS's €1.7bn (£1.5bn) damages claim against the European Commission.

The US firm's Brussels operation is acting alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on the case, which comes six years after the Commission vetoed a UPS takeover of TNT Express in January 2013 and TNT was subsequently acquired by FedEx Corp for €4.4bn (£3.9bn).

UPS successfully appealed the Commission's decision in 2017 – the first successful appeal of its kind in 16 years – and subsequently filed a damages claim against the Commission, confirming Freshfields as its legal adviser.

But Freshfields European counsel Foad Hoseinian, who was included in the Freshfields team, left the firm in 2018 to join Sullivan. It was decided both by UPS and Freshfields that Hoseinian would continue working on the case, handing Sullivan a major litigation mandate as a result of the hire.

The case is expected to last for several years.

The Commission fought the appeal ruling, taking the case to the European Court of Justice. But this week, on Wednesday 16 January, the ECJ ruled the Commission's decision encountered a procedural error and overturned the veto, clearing the way for UPS to pursue its claim.

The Freshfields team, which still has the main role on the case, is being led by competition and regulatory partner Alan Ryan from the firm's Brussels office, and litigation partner Winfred Knibbeler from the firm's Amsterdam office.

Freshfields has often been called in for European damages claims, currently taking the lead role in advising Volkswagen on the ongoing mass class action case following the car manufacturer's emission scandal.

It is unclear whether the Commission will use an external legal adviser. It traditionally uses its own in-house lawyers in such situations, and internal lawyer Nicholas Khan has been appointed to lead the team of lawyers for the Commission on this case, according to two people involved.

The Commission did not respond to requests for comment.