Kaarli Eichhorn has acted on a significant number of high-profile and politically sensitive merger and antitrust matters globally for more than 20 years. Kaarli is recognized in numerous legal publications, including The Legal 500 as a "Leading Individual" for Competition: EU and Global (2023).
He has substantial experience in competition law, international regulation, government affairs, foreign investment screening, and sanctions. His experience includes energy, oil & gas, transportation, telecommunications, consumer products, aerospace, life sciences, financial services, and media.
Prior to Jones Day, Kaarli was global executive counsel of competition law & policy at General Electric (GE). During his 10-year tenure at GE he advised on hundreds of international transactions and led the merger review clearance processes globally for GE's acquisitions of Alstom ($10.6 billion), Avio ($4.3 billion), Lufkin ($3.3 billion), and Dresser ($3 billion) and divestments of NBCU ($30 billion) and upward of $200 billion of GE Capital assets. He handled a significant amount of GE's counseling, training, guidance, internal investigations, and audits within the company's business divisions internationally.
In 2020, Kaarli was elected vice chair of the board of AmCham EU and re-elected in 2022, a position he held until November 2023. He has held several other AmCham EU leadership roles and is currently vice chair for competition and the Ukraine Task Force.
He is a prior member of the board of European Justice Forum, a former vice chair of the In-House Competition Counsel Association, and member of the BusinessEurope Competition Committee. He is a non-governmental advisor at the International Competition Network.
Kaarli leads Jones Day's Nordic practice.
Experience
The below is a selection of matters on which Mr. Eichhorn has advised General Electric Company in the last 10 years, prior to joining Jones Day.
Represented NBC Universal in its acquisition by Comcast Corporation, in non-U.S. merger and strategic investment clearance processes between 2009 and 2011.
Represented GE Energy in its 2011 $3.2 billion acquisition of French power conversion company Converteam Group SAS. The transaction led to horizontal overlaps and vertical links in a number of industrial markets. The transaction was unconditionally cleared globally, with divestments in the U.S. in low-speed synchronous electric motors.
Represented GE Energy in its 2011 $3 billion acquisition of Dresser Holdings, managing multi-jurisdictional clearances.
Represented GE Energy in a 2011 EU Commission investigation into potential anticompetitive practices related to gas reciprocating engines.
Represented GE Aviation in the 2013 $4.3 billion acquisition of the aviation business of Avio S.p.A. of Italy. This vertical transaction was made conditional upon a series of commitments in the EU and the U.S.
Represented Budapest Bank in allegations of the Hungarian Competition Authority in 2013 relating to anticompetitive conduct in the refinancing of foreign currency consumer mortgages.
Counsel to GE Capital in numerous business divestments where the majority of GE Capital assets (valued at approximately $200 billion) were spun off in 'Project Hubble' in 2015-2017 covering, among others, equipment leasing, factoring, real estate, and consumer banking.
Represented GE in obtaining global merger control clearances for the $10.6 billion acquisition of Alstom's power and grid business, its largest-ever industrial acquisition. The transaction was cleared following remedies in gas turbine markets provided in the EU and U.S. and following a very significant number of global merger and strategic investment clearances. The GE team won the 2016 GCR award in the category Merger Control Matter of the Year – Europe.
Represented GE Energy in obtaining global merger control clearances for the 2016 establishment of Russian Gas Turbines, a joint venture between Inter Rao and United Engine Corporation of Russia and GE.
Represented GE Energy Financial Services in the 2017 acquisition, jointly with Macquarie Group, of Markbygden ETT of Sweden, upon completion, the largest single onshore wind farm in Europe. The transaction was unconditionally cleared by the EU Commission.
Represented GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) in obtaining global merger control clearances for its 2017 acquisition over Irish joint venture Einn Volant Aircraft Leasing Holdings Ltd., jointly with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The joint venture is active in the acquisition and leasing of aircraft.
Represented GE Healthcare in its amicable settlement with the Swiss Competition Commission in 2016, regarding imports of medical ultrasound machines.
Represented GE Capital in dismissing allegations in one of the highest profile antitrust investigations conducted by the Italian Competition Authority in recent years, involving information exchange practices among several Italian-based automotive leasing and fleet management companies.
Represented NBC Universal in an EU investigation into several major U.S. Hollywood film studios' contract provisions (including so-called 'MFN' clauses) relating to the financing and installation of digital projection equipment in cinemas.
Represented GE Healthcare after its US$2.4 billion acquisition of medical device manufacturer Instrumentarium in 2004 in comprehensive commitments compliance. The transaction was cleared conditional upon divestments, supply commitments, and a perpetual Open Interfacing Commitment.
Represented NBC Universal in the HULU joint venture in non-U.S. clearance processes throughout 2007-2011.
Additional Speaking Engagements
- July 31, 2024
Asia Forum: 4th International Arbitration & Competition Law Summit - January 18, 2024
3rd W@Competition Nordic Conference - November 27,2023
Opening remarks at European Justice Forum and American Chamber of Commerce to the EU "Third Party Litigation Funding: "Access to Justice but not for Profit" - November 22, 2023
Subsidies, screening and M&A: the EU's new regulatory order - September 1, 2023
6th Annual Shanghai International Arbitration & Anti-Trust Forum - June 14, 2022
Sustainability and Antitrust: Europe is leading – will America follow?, Chicago Bar Association - May 27, 2022
Global Developments at the Intersection of Competition and Environmental Policy, panelist, International Committee and Transportation and Energy Industries Committee of the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association. - April 6, 2022
Populist Antitrust – The Buck Stops Where?, 2022 Antitrust Law Spring Meeting - November 17, 2021
38th American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union Competition Policy ConferenceGlobal leadership and competition policy: EU vs the world? - September 2020
Practicing Law in a Global Context, Peking University Law School - September 10, 2020
Is Europe Staying Open or Closing Up? EU Policies on Foreign Investment, Competition and Subsidies - February 8, 2020
GCR Live 9th Annual Antitrust Law Leaders Forum, Miami, Florida: Antitrust: Recent trends in antitrust and IP enforcement - September 18, 2019
Practicing Law in a Global Context, Peking University Law School - November 2018
Global Trends in Antitrust Enforcement, LeadershIp 2018 - October 2018
Working with the Baltic and Nordic Competition Authorities: Compliance, panel moderator
"An available, dedicated and very skilled advocate who is quick to identify the problems and possible solutions."Chambers Global
- Stockholm University (Master of European Law 2001; Master of Laws 2000)
- Sweden and Brussels
2016 GCR team award "Merger Control Matter of the Year — Europe" (GE/Alstom)
2012 Global Counsel Award for "Competition — Individual of the Year" by ACC (Association of Corporate Counsel) and ILO (International Law Office)
Legal 500, Competition: EU and Global "Leading Individual" (2023)
Ranked among leading antitrust practitioners by Best Lawyers (2021)
Recognized in Chambers Global for Competition EU (2023)
- English, Swedish, Estonian, German