Nigel Parr
Nigel Parr

Nigel Parr

Partner and Chair of Ashurst's Global antitrust, regulatory and trade practice

London | Dublin

+44 20 7859 1763 | +44 7785 346 577 |
+353 (0)1 541 4778
Nigel.Parr@ashurstperkins.com

Introduction

Nigel is renowned for his deep experience of UK and EU competition law and his pragmatic advice.

Nigel Parr is a partner in our Antitrust and Competition practice. He is admitted as a solicitor in Ireland and England & Wales, and advises on all aspects of UK and EU competition law, including mergers, strategic business advice and competition risk management, cartel and abuse of dominance cases, market/sector investigations, appeals and competition litigation.

He is recognized in the Legal 500's Hall of Fame, and is ranked in Band 1 of the Chambers UK Directory. Chambers 2026 commented that "He is outstanding and is probably the most experienced competition lawyer in the UK. He has a great manner and sophistication with the regulators while being an easy person to deal with as a client.“ He is a long-standing member of the Competition Law Committee of the City of London Law Society, a member of the Joint Working Party of the Bar and the Law Society on Competition Law, He is the co-author of UK Merger Control: Law and Practice (3rd edition published by Sweet & Maxwell), the leading book on UK Merger Control, as well as numerous other articles and book chapters on competition law. He has LLB, LLM and PhD degrees in Law and EU Law.

  • IHSMarkit in relation to its $44 billion merger with S&P Global, which was cleared at Phase 1 by the CMA and EU Commission, subject to 4 divestments
  • Wm Morrison Supermarkets in relation to its acquisition by CD&R, which was cleared at Phase 1 by the CMA subject to the divestment of over 80 petrol filling stations, and in relation to its acquisition of McColl's 1,100 convenience stores out of administration, which was cleared by the CMA at Phase 1, subject to the divestment of 28 McColl's stores, and In relation to the CMAs investigation into compliance with the Controlled Land Order;
  • 2Agriculture in relation to its acquisition of two animal feed mills from ForFarmers which was cleared by the CMA without remedies following a detailed Phase 2 investigation.
  • OSTTRA in relation to its creation as derivatives trade processing Joint Venture of S&P Global and CME Inc, which was reviewed and cleared at Phase 1 by the CMA and EU Commission,
  • Circle Healthcare in relation to its acquisition of BMI Healthcare which created the UK's leading private hospital operator and was cleared at Phase 1 by the CMA, subject to the divestment of 2 hospitals in Bath and Birmingham.
  • Market Data Provider in relation to the FCA's wholesale data market study into benchmarks, credit ratings data and market data vendors.
  • ITV plc in relation to two investigations conducted by the CMA under the Chapter 1 Prohibition in relation to the alleged exchange of competitively sensitive information in connection with the procurement of labor.
  • Wm Morrisons Supermarkets In relation to the CMAs investigation into compliance with the Controlled Land Order
  • Application Developers Alliance In relation to its intervention in support of Google's appeal to the EU General Court and Court of Justice against the Commission's infringement decision in connection with the Android operating system.
  • UK Bank In relation to the CMA's market investigation into personal current accounts, business current accounts and SME lending, and the introduction of the suite of remedies comprising the Open Banking initiative.
  • Royal Mail Group In relation to Ofcom's abuse of dominance investigation in connection with discriminatory pricing, and subsequent appeals to the Competition Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal.
  • Intel Corporation In relation to its successful appeal to the EU Court of Justice against the European Commission's abuse of dominance decision in relation to exclusionary rebates.

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