Niels Baeten’s practice covers all aspects of EU, international and Belgian competition law, including merger control, state aid and foreign subsidies, digital regulation, abuse of dominance, cartels and antitrust compliance issues.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers | 2026 | EU, International, Belgian Competition Law |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2025 | Antitrust |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers | 2025 | EU, International, Belgian Competition Law |
Baeten has more than a decade of experience helping global corporations navigate complex multijurisdictional merger control matters, including complex remedy structures. His practice covers a wide range of industries, including aerospace, technology, e-commerce, media and telecommunications, financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, automotive and manufacturing. Baeten’s experience includes advising on the following transactions:
- Boralex Inc. on its acquisition by Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. and La Caisse at an enterprise value of US$9 billion
- The AES Corporation on its US$10.7 billion going-private acquisition by a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners and the EQT Infrastructure VI Fund
- Mars, Incorporated on its US$35.9 billion acquisition of Kellanova
- Capgemini SE on its US$3.3 billion acquisition of WNS (Holdings) Limited
- Royal Gold Inc. on its US$3.5 billion acquisition of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and concurrent US$196 million acquisition of Horizon Copper Corp.
- Ardian as lead investor in a continuation vehicle set up by Andera Partners in Andera’s acquisition of SPHEREA and Averna
- Elon Musk on his US$44 billion acquisition of X Corp. (formerly Twitter, Inc.)
- Air Canada on its US$523 million proposed (but later abandoned) acquisition of Transat A.T. Inc.
- Rockwell Collins, Inc. on its US$30 billion acquisition by United Technologies
- Aspen Technology, Inc. in relation to its US$6 billion transaction with Emerson Electric Company
- Purolite on its US$3.7 billion acquisition by Ecolab
- S&P Global on the US$975 million sale of its Engineering Solutions business to KKR
- The Baupost Group on its US$910 million acquisition of the Western Union Company’s Business Solutions business alongside Goldfinch Partners
Baeten also has extensive experience in EU state aid and foreign subsidies matters, particularly for clients in the financial, energy and airline industries, as well as in taxation matters. His recent experience includes representing:
- Victaulic Europe before the EU General Court in its appeal against the European Commission’s (EC’s) negative state aid decision in connection with the Belgian “excess profit” ruling corporate tax regime
- Kingfisher plc in its appeal against the EC’s decision regarding the Group Financing Exemption in the U.K.’s Controlled Foreign Company rules
Baeten also regularly advises on structuring industry collaborations in compliance with antitrust rules. Most notably, he has counseled Renault Group on the transformation of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which was announced in February 2023.