Edward W. (Bill) Batchelor has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements.
Batchelor regularly represents clients on EU and global merger control matters and litigation, and provides counsel on distribution and collaboration agreements in complex and highly regulated industries, such as health care, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, and gambling, among others.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators | 2026 | Antitrust, Global Competition |
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers | 2026 | EU & UK Competition Law |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators | 2025 | Antitrust, Global Competition |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers | 2025 | EU & UK Competition Law |
Batchelor has spent time working in Brussels, London and Washington, D.C., as well as at EU and U.K. competition authorities. Batchelor serves as vice chair of the British Chamber of Commerce’s Competition Law and Brexit committees, as well as vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Section Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Committee.
Among his recent experience, Batchelor has:
- represented Netflix, Inc. in its proposed US$82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. and acquisition of The Roald Dahl Story Company Limited, which manages the literary works, copyrights and trademarks of author Roald Dahl
- represented Adobe Inc. in the antitrust aspects of its proposed (but terminated) US$20 billion acquisition of Figma, Inc.
- represented Activision Blizzard Inc. in its US$75 billion acquisition by Microsoft Corporation. This is the largest-ever technology deal and the largest-ever gaming industry deal
- represented PayPal in the phase 2 Competition Markets Authority (CMA) inquiry into the US$2.2 billion acquisition of iZettle, securing clearance without conditions
- represented Viagogo in the phase 2 CMA inquiry into its US$4 billion acquisition of StubHub, securing clearance with remedies
- represented Zuber and Mohsin Issa, owners of EG Group, and TDR Capital LLP, in the phase 1 CMA inquiry into their US$8.7 billion acquisition of a majority stake in ASDA Group Limited from Walmart Inc., securing clearance with remedies
- represented Gilead Sciences, Inc. in its US$5.1 billion transaction with Galapagos NV.
- represented Warner Bros. in settling the European Commission’s cross-border pay-TV investigation
- represented ZeniMax in settling the European Commission’s video games investigation
- advised on merger control and joint ventures in relation to the BP/Nova styrenics joint venture (for BP); Cisco/WebEx (for Cisco); Bain/American-Standard (for American Standard); OTPP/Camelot (for OTPP); Canal+/TVN (for Canal+); Warner Bros./Eyeworks (for Warner Bros.); and ADM/Wilmar (for ADM)
- annulled a €119 million fine involving the GIS cartel
- settled the 9/11 aviation insurance cartel inquiry on behalf of a major reinsurer
- represented a pharmaceutical company before the General Court in an alleged “reverse payment” settlement agreement
- represented KirchMedia (now Infront), and subsequently FIFA, before the EU courts reversing EU decisions mandating free-to-air coverage of the FIFA World Cup