Profile details
About Koo Asakura
Koo is an associate in our antitrust, competition and trade group, based in the London office.
Koo advises on contentious and non-contentious EU, UK and multi-jurisdictional competition law matters, including merger control, foreign investment review, behavioural matters, compliance and litigation.
During his time at Freshfields, Koo has spent time on secondment with Airbnb and the firm's Brussels office.
Recent work
- Advising CK Hutchison on the antitrust and foreign direct investment aspects of the sale of its large portfolio of c.24,600 mobile telecommunications towers in Europe to Cellnex in a €10bn transaction. This involved obtaining phase 2 merger clearance subject to remedies in the UK and Italy, unconditional merger clearance in Austria and unconditional FDI clearance in Italy and the UK.
- Representing CK Hutchison in its successful appeal to the General Court of the European Union annulling the European Commission's prohibition of the proposed acquisition of Telefonica UK (O2).
- Advising Flutter Entertainment (owner of the Paddy Power and Betfair brands) on its cross-border £10bn combination with The Stars Group (owner of the Sky Betting and Gaming and PokerStars brands) to create a leading global sports betting and gaming business – including obtaining unconditional Phase 1 clearance from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and coordinating the global merger control and foreign investment filings effort.
- Advising Rentokil on its completed acquisition of Mitie Pest Control, cleared subject to remedies by the Competition and Markets Authority at Phase 1.
- Advising Siemens on the EU merger control proceedings of the proposed transformative combination of Siemens' and Alstom's mobility businesses, which is now widely recognised as a landmark case for the European merger control regime.
Qualifications
University education
- BPP Law School (Legal Practice Course)
- University of Dundee (LLB)
Professional qualifications
- Solicitor, England and Wales