Mary Wilks is an Antitrust partner and member of the Private Capital Team.
Mary advises on a broad range of EU and UK competition law issues, including multijurisdictional mergers, behavioral investigations, complex supply and distribution arrangements, and foreign investment controls including, notably, the UK’s newly adopted National Security and Investment Act. She advises clients on the competition aspects of transactions including M&A, equity investments, consortium transactions and secondaries.
Mary works across all sectors, with particular experience in consumer products, healthcare, TMT and financial services.
Mary regularly counsels clients on their engagement with the Competition and Markets Authority, the European Commission, and other prominent international enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities.
Mary Wilks has a reputation as an “excellent lawyer” who “plays a leading role on a range of high-profile cases.” According to sources, “She is always fully on top of the detail but also able to pull out the most important points for the case.”
Prior to joining Proskauer, Mary was a counsel in the antitrust, competition and trade department at another leading law firm in London.
Education
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BPP Law School, PgDL
Legal Practice Course
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King's College London, M.A.
EU Competition Law
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Oxford University, Magdalen College, M.A.
Honors, Modern History
Admissions & Qualifications
- Admitted to Practice as a Solicitor of England and Wales
Awards & Recognition
Who's Who Legal: Future Leaders 2017-2022
Matters
Prior to joining Proskauer, Mary’s representative matters included advising:
- eBay Inc. on global merger control and foreign investment aspects of its acquisition of TCGplayer
- Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC on the merger control and foreign investment filings in connection with the recommended cash offer by Astorg and Epiris
- Auction Technology Group on the global merger control aspects of its $525m acquisition of LiveAuctioneers, a North American online Arts & Antiques marketplace, including obtaining unconditional Phase 1 clearance from the CMA
- London Stock Exchange Group on its proposed merger with Deutsche Börse and subsequently on its $27bn acquisition of Refinitiv, including securing European Commission merger clearance at Phase 2
- Comcast Corporation on the global merger control and public interest aspects of its £30bn public bid for Sky plc, including achieving unconditional Phase 1 clearance from the European Commission, and the global merger control and public interest aspects of its $66bn bid for the global assets of 21stCentury Fox
- Müller UK & Ireland on its acquisition of Dairy Crest’s dairy operations
- Spire Healthcare Group on the UK private healthcare market investigation
- Tesco on the UK Office of Fair Trading’s investigations into the retail of tobacco and dairy products markets, the latter successfully appealed to the Competition Appeals Tribunal
- A major Hollywood studio in relation to the UK market investigation into Movies on Pay TV
- Sara Lee on: the €1.2bn sale of its global bodycare and European detergents business to Unilever, cleared subject to conditions after a Phase 2 review by the European Commission; and the €320m sale of its air care business to Procter & Gamble, cleared unconditionally by the European Commission at Phase 1
- Pearson on the European Commission’s investigation into e-books