Expertise/Tech &
Digital
Tech & Digital
At the forefront of tech developments
Our Digital group consists of a multi-disciplinary team that focuses on global tech firms, significant digital platforms and other major players in data-heavy industries. Our different expertise groups spanning Digital Platforms, Fintech, Industrial Tech and Venture Capital, work together to offer clients a well-rounded proposition covering various topics, such as:
Strategic boardroom advice; Data Privacy & Cybersecurity; Mass Claims; Consumer Protection; Artificial Intelligence; Competition & Regulation; Intellectual property; Media law; Internal investigations; Enforcement actions; Foreign Direct Investment; M&A and funding
We understand the opportunities and the risks associated with the platform economy and help our digital clients to navigate this dynamic and fast-paced landscape.
Our recent track record, advising:
- Just Eat Takeaway in all M&A and competition aspects relating to its acquisition of Delivery Hero in Germany, its merger with Just Eat and its acquisition of Grubhub in the US.
- Salesforce as lead counsel in the first mass damage claim based on the new regulatory regimes for class actions under both EU privacy law and Dutch civil law. The claim vehicle was declared inadmissible by the District Court of Amsterdam.
- AirBnB in its defence against civil class actions in the Netherlands in relation to the alleged unlawful double charging of service costs.
- Booking.com in proceedings against German hotels in relation to price parity clauses.
- A leading sales platform in a global trademark dispute.
Contact
Helen Gornall
Partner
Tobias Cohen Jehoram
Partner
Axel Arnbak
Partner
Geert Potjewijd
Partner
Jaap Barneveld
Partner
Related expertise
Venture CapitalFinancial Institutions & FintechRecent Matters
19 April 2024
Digital Realty sells 24.9% interest in Frankfurt data centers to Digital Core REIT for EUR 118 million
Digital Realty Trust, LP (NYSE listed) has completed the sale and transfer of a 24.9% interest in data centers located in Frankfurt, Germany, to Digital Core REIT (Singapore listed) for EUR 118 million.
8 December 2023Digital Realty and Blackstone announce USD 7 billion hyperscale data center development joint venture
Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, and Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) has announced that Blackstone-affiliated funds led by Infrastructure, Real Estate and Tactical Opportunities have agreed to establish a joint venture with Digital Realty to develop four hyperscale data center campuses across three metro areas on two continents. The developments are expected to support approximately 500 megawatts (MW) of total IT load upon full build out of all campuses. Blackstone will acquire an 80% ownership interest in the joint venture for approximately $700 million of initial capital contributions, while Digital Realty will maintain a 20% interest. Subsequent to closing, the joint venture parties will fund their pro rata share of the remaining development costs. Digital Realty will manage the development and day-to-day operations of the joint venture, for which it will receive customary fees.
30 June 2023De Brauw acted as sell-side legal advisor on the sale of hallo, Group to KLAR Partners
De Brauw advised on the sale of a majority stake in hallo, Group, a leading managed services provider to SMEs in the Netherlands, by Vortex Capital Partners and other shareholders to a fund managed by KLAR Partners (“KLAR”). KLAR will partner with the current shareholders.
Industrial Tech
Our Industrial Tech Group is a subset of our Digital group and consists of a multidisciplinary group that aims to consolidate our vast experience working for tech-heavy industrial clients with a focus on:
- Arbitration in tech-focused disputes
- Pan-European and cross border patent litigation in pharma, life sciences, telecoms and consumer goods markets
- UPC litigation with a focused cross expertise and international team
- IP contacting and licensing, joint ventures and IP heavy M&A
Our recent track record includes:
- Advising a client in the construction sector in major FRAND proceedings
- Representing a FMCG client in high stake litigation including questions of competition and patent law, resulting in a successful complaint before the French Competition Authority.
- Advising a technology client on the disentanglement of one of its major business units as well as advising on the sale of that division
Insights
15 July 2024
UK changes rules for mergers and introduces digital markets regime
One year after it was first presented to parliament, the long-awaited Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) received royal assent on 24 May 2024, marking a shift in digital, competition and consumer protection regulation in the UK. The DMCCA grants the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expanded powers to regulate the digital sector, scrutinise a broad range of mergers and acquisitions across digital and other markets, enforce consumer protection law, and strengthen competition oversight.
24 May 2024De Brauw publishes third edition of "Unlocking the WAMCA"
All the latest developments around the WAMCA in one book, available to anyone who is interested.
18 April 2024Anticipating the EU Regulation on Standard Essential Patents: what lies ahead?
On 28 February 2024, the European Parliament (EP) approved the European Commission's proposal for a new regulation on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). Despite substantial criticism (see, for example, our article), the EP left the core elements of the Commission's proposal unchanged. The draft SEP Regulation will now need to be reviewed by the EU Council, with the overall duration of the further legislative process mostly depending on whether the Council will move forward with this before the European elections in June 2024. Considering the probable upcoming shifts in the SEP landscape, this article outlines the potential ramifications of the current draft SEP Regulation (as amended by the EP) once it has been enacted.