Mary is a Chambers-ranked partner in our antitrust, competition and trade group, based in Washington, DC. Mary focuses her practice on representing clients before the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the State Attorneys General on the antitrust aspects of M&A, joint ventures, distribution and intellectual property arrangements, and other competitive conduct.
Before joining Freshfields, Mary served as an advisor to two FTC Chairs, providing counsel on antitrust investigations, enforcement actions, policy initiatives, public relations, and congressional strategies. Prior to her role in the Chairman’s office, Mary oversaw antitrust merger investigations as a lead attorney in the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.
Mary is an American Bar Association Fellow, an honorary distinction limited to one percent of lawyers licensed in each jurisdiction who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession. Mary is also a leader in the American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law, Co-Chair of the Federal Civil Enforcement Committee. She frequently speaks on antitrust issues, most recently at numerous ABA and GCR panels and events.
Mary has also participated as a panelist in Women’s Competition Network and ABA Women in Deal Work events.
- United Airlines on numerous business opportunities, including its recently-announced Blue Sky collaboration with JetBlue, a transaction closely reviewed by the Department of Transportation and the DOJ.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) on its mega-deal acquisition of Juniper Networks, Inc.
- Universal Music Group on global antitrust clearances of its acquisition of Downtown Music, a major independent music services company.
- Cargill and the buyer consortium in their $4.3bn take-private of Sanderson Farms and the concurrent combination of Sanderson Farms with Wayne Farms.
- Saint-Gobain in its $2.3bn all-cash acquisition of GCP Applied Technologies, a transaction that was investigated and cleared by the DOJ without a Second Request.
- Suzano on its $11bn acquisition of rival Brazilian pulp manufacturer, Fibria Celulose SA, which created the world’s largest hardwood pulp producer, investigated and cleared by DOJ without a Second Request.
- AstraZeneca PLC on its $39bn acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, investigated and cleared by the FTC without a Second Request.
- Starbucks on its $7.15bn global coffee alliance with Nestlé.
- Rexam on the FTC’s Second Request review of its $6.9bn takeover by Ball Corporation, which brought together the world’s two largest producers of beverage cans.
- Johnson & Johnson on various transactions on an ongoing basis, including its $6.5bn acquisition of Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its $30bn acquisition of Swiss biotech company Actelion Pharmaceuticals.
- Novartis AG on the $5.4bn sale of its animal health business to Eli Lilly.
- LANXESS on its agreement with International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) to purchase IFF’s Microbial Control business unit for $1.3bn.
- Beiersdorf AG on its acquisition of Bayer AG’s Coppertone sun care business for $550m.
- ExxonMobil and Holcim Group on numerous business opportunities as well as providing ongoing counsel.
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