Colin Raftery

Colin is a partner in our global antitrust and regulatory group based in London. Before joining Freshfields in 2024, Colin was Senior Director of Mergers at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). He brings unrivalled experience on global M&A enforcement and is a core member of Freshfields' market-leading M&A and antitrust teams.

Colin’s extensive experience extends to all aspects of UK and EU competition law, with unique insight gained from his role leading the CMA’s merger control function.

During his time at the CMA, Colin decided the outcomes of complex Phase 1 merger investigations. He was also a senior adviser to the panels that take decisions in Phase 2 investigations  and therefore has considerable experience in working with independent decision-makers in these cases. Colin led the CMA’s engagement with senior officials at the European Commission, US antitrust agencies and other national authorities on global merger control issues, so brings unparalleled insight into how agency coordination on cross-border deals operates in practice.

Colin has also been involved in defending litigation challenges to CMA merger decisions before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).

Colin led internal preparations for the CMA’s additional merger control responsibilities following Brexit and played a key role in revising the CMA’s Merger Guidelines and other procedural and substantive guidance, including the CMA’s guidance on remedies, interim measures and the use of internal documents in merger investigations. Shortly before...