About
Charles is a special counsel in our Antitrust, Competition, and Trade practice, based in DC.
Charles counsels clients on domestic and international merger control proceedings and related strategy, including coordinating Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings, drafting for advocacy before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), providing preliminary assessment of non-U.S. merger control filing obligations, and overseeing and supporting local counsel in non-U.S. merger control proceedings. He also provides antitrust compliance advice and support to clients across industries on pre-closing integration activities and post-closing hold-separate arrangements, including drafting non-disclosure agreements and developing associated employee trainings.
Prior to rejoining Freshfields, he worked as an Attorney Advisor at the DOJ Antitrust Division. During his time at the DOJ he primarily advised the Antitrust Division front office and staff on a range of antitrust-related policy, regulatory, and legislative projects and initiatives, particularly as they relate to U.S. merger control policy and legal issues.
Charles is also fluent in German.
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- Advent and Cinven on merger control and other regulatory aspects of the agreed combination of Kone Corporation and TK Elevator (TKE), creating one of the world’s leading elevator and escalator companies, for an enterprise value for TKE of EUR 29.4 billion.
- AST SpaceMobile on the repurchase of a $225m principal amount of convertible notes and a $503m registered direct offering of Class A common stock.
- Cencora, Inc. on its acquisition of Retina Consultants of America, for cash, based on an enterprise value of approximately $4.6bn.
- CrowdStrike on its $740m acquisition of SGNL and its acquisitions of Seraphic Security, Onum, Pangea, and Adaptive Shield.
- DSV on its €14.3bn acquisition of Schenker AG from Deutsche Bahn.
- Evonik Industries in connection with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s investigation into Evonik’s $630m acquisition of the precipitated silica business from J.M. Huber Corporation.
- Fever-Tree on its strategic partnership with Molson Coors Beverage Company in the US.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise on the US merger control aspects of its $14bn acquisition of Juniper Networks.
- Infineon Technologies on its $830m acquisition of GaN Systems Inc.
- Japan Tobacco in $2.4bn acquisition of US cigarette maker Vector Group.
- Johnson & Johnson on its $850m acquisition of Proteologix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on bispecific antibodies for immune-mediated diseases, and its $2bn acquisition of Ambrx Biopharma, a biotech company developing next generation ADCs for prostate cancer.
- Jungheinrich AG on its $375m acquisition of Storage Solutions Group.
- Kiekert AG, and its North American subsidiary, in the global auto parts price-fixing investigations, including a negotiated plea agreement with the DOJ and follow-on litigation in the US.
- Lowe’s Companies, Inc. on its $8.8bn acquisition of Foundation Building Materials.
- Messer Group & CVC Capital Partners with respect to their $3.3bn acquisition of North American industrial gas assets required to be divested as a result of the FTC’s investigation of Linde/Praxair.
- Novartis on the merger control aspects of its $1.75bn acquisition of US radiopharmaceutical company Mariana Oncology.
- Novartis on its $2.89bn takeover of MorphoSys AG.
- Penske Automotive Group, Inc. on its approximately $520m acquisition of Longo Toyota and Longo Lexus.
- Roivant Sciences on its $7.1bn sale of Telavant, the developer of treatments for IBS.
- Sanofi S.A. on its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, Inc.
- Salesforce on its acquisition of Convergence.ai, an AI agent company recognized for developing advanced systems that perform complex, human-like tasks in digital environments.
- ServiceNow on its $7.75bn acquisition of Armis, its acquisitions of Veza, Mission Secure, and Logik.ai, and its joint $1.5bn investment, alongside Salesforce, in Genesys.
- Standard BioTools Inc. on the sale of its SomaLogic business to Illumina, Inc. for $425m in cash and milestone payments.
- Starbucks on global merger control and ongoing competition compliance aspects of its $7.15bn global coffee alliance with Nestle.
- Subsea7 on the US merger control aspects of its proposed multi-billion combination with Saipem (offshore energy construction and maintenance sector).
- Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its $6.7bn Acquisition by Merck.
- Viterra and its shareholders on global merger control of its transformative merger with Bunge Limited. This $34bn transaction marks the largest grain trading merger in over a decade, establishing a cutting-edge global agribusiness leader.
- Yokohama Rubber on its acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding AB for an enterprise value of over €2bn and on Yokohama's $905m acquisition of Goodyear’s off-the-road tire business.
Charles Ramsey
700 13th Street, NW
10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-3960