BAHRinsight '20/'21

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BAHR

Taking a competitive stance Helge Stemshaug’s team and the client did not cave in when the Norwegian Competition Authority wanted to block the merger between Sport 1 and the Gresvig bankruptcy estate. They got a yes in the end, and Norway’s largest sports equipment retailer came into being. Solving complex competition law issues requires a multidisciplinary approach. Major mergers present Stemshaug, his team – comprising an economist in addition to the lawyers – and our clients with challenges within law, economics, politics, lobbying, communications and media relations.

Gresvig bankruptcy estate in 2020. The Norwegian Competition Authority at first wanted to block the merger, but relented a few days before the deadline expired.

- When I first joined BAHR, Norwegian politicians were discussing how many banks and oil companies we should have and whether foreign companies should be permitted to invest in Norway. All that is behind us now. At present, government involvement is limited to examination of mergers’ effect on market competition, as well as national security considerations.

BAHR and its clients will in merger control cases typically engage in pre-notification contact with the Norwegian Competition Authority. Thereafter, following notification, the Authority will have 25 working days to issue a notice of potential intervention, without having to provide any thorough explanation.

Stemshaug and his team were advising when Bjørn Rune Gjelsten of Sport 1 and Olav Nils Sunde, who for many years owned Gresvig, wanted to acquire the

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- We pulled out all the stops upon receiving the first negative notice from the Authority.

- 45 days later you receive the formal 100-page notice, setting out arguments against the merger and presenting the reasoning behind the decision contemplated by the Norwegian Competition Authority. When that happens, you need to have your strategy and - not least your documentation ready, and put


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