Managing Counsel
Kristian Helge Straton-Andersen is Managing Counsel in the EU and Competition Law practice group. With almost 20 years of experience, he combines deep legal insight with a pragmatic approach to complex matters and advises both Danish and international companies in high-profile competition law and regulatory cases. This has made him a trusted and sought-after advisor.
Competition law
Kristian has worked with virtually all aspects of competition law in Denmark, the EU, and Greenland – from anti-competitive agreements and complex abuse of dominance cases to merger control, dawn raids, and litigation.
He has particular expertise in distribution agreements, voluntary chain collaborations, and bonus and rebate schemes of dominant undertakings. Kristian also assists companies during inspections and in cases before the competition authorities.
Kristian advises across sectors and has particular experience in the maritime sector, financial services, retail, energy, and the automotive industry. He has completed more than 200 merger filings – many complex and with remedies – before the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, the European Commission, and other competition authorities.
As co-author of 'Market Law' and of the chapters on merger control and abuse in 'The Danish Competition Act with Commentary' as well as the author of numerous scholarly articles, Kristian has contributed significantly to the development of Danish competition law. He has also taught as an external lecturer at the University of Copenhagen.
FDI and FSR
Kristian is among Denmark's most experienced advisors on foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign subsidies regulation (FSR). A pioneer in the field, he submitted some of the first applications under the Danish FDI regime and has since handled more than 50 filings, including nearly half of the complex phase-2 cases. He is the author of 'The Danish Investment Screening Act with Commentary'.
International experience
Kristian has previously worked as an international associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York and as a special advisor at the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority. This combined experience from international private practice and a government authority gives him a distinctive understanding of global market dynamics and regulatory processes across jurisdictions.
Gorrissen Federspiel 2016 -
Danish Competition and Consumer Authority 2014 - 2016
Gorrissen Federspiel 2006 - 2014
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, New York 2011
Admitted to the Danish Bar 2009
Master of Laws, University of Copenhagen 2006
English
Kristian Helge Straton-Andersen is ranked as Rising Star in Legal500
Books
Inatsisartut Act on Competition (the Greenlandic Act on Competition) with Commentary (Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag) (under publication)
Danish Act on Competition with Commentary by Jacob Pinborg and Kristian Helge Straton-Andersen (Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag, sixth edition) (under publication)
Markedsretten by Torsten Bjørn Larsen and Kristian Helge Straton-Andersen (Karnov Group, second edition) (under publication)
Danish Act on Foreign Direct Investments with Commentary by Kristian Helge Straton-Andersen (Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag, 2022) (661 pages)
Danish Act on Competition with Commentary by Jacob Pinborg and Kristian Helge Straton-Andersen (Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag, fifth edition, 2022) (1,660 pages)
Markedsretten by Torsten Bjørn Larsen and Kristian Helge Straton-Andersen (Karnov Group, first edition, 2019) (577 pages)
Danish Act on Competition with Commentary by Kirsten Levinsen and co-authored by Kristian Helge Andersen and Louise Kastfelt (Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag, fourth edition, 2018) (1,513 pages)
Articles
EU competition law from November 2023 to October 2024 - Practice, judgments, and legislation (EU-konkurrenceret fra november 2023 til oktober 2024 – praksis, domme og lovgivning) in EU-law and Human Rights Law (EU-ret & Menneskeret) no 4/2024, p. 282-302 (co-author)
Danish Competition and Consumer Authority's guidelines for pricing in voluntary chains - stating the law? (Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsens vejledning om frivillige kæders priser - gældende ret?) in Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen 2023, p. 343-354
EU competition law in 2023 - Practice, judgments, and legislation (January to October) (EU-konkurrenceret i 2023 – praksis, domme og lovgivning (januar til oktober)) in EU-law and Human Rights Law (EU-ret & Menneskeret) no 4/2023, p. 213-231 (co-author)
The European Commission's new guidelines for cooperation between competitors (Kommissionens nye retningslinjer for samarbejder mellem konkurrenter) in EU-law and Human Rights Law (EU-ret & Menneskeret) no 3/2023, p. 105-124
The first rejection under the Danish Act on Foreign Direct Investments in Revision- & Regnskabsvæsen no 5/2023, p. 22-33
Vertical Agreements: Tilting Information Exchanges in Dual Distribution Scenarios (Denmark) in Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, Volume 13, Issue 7 (2022), p. 493-499 (co-author)
The first 6 years with the new merger control rules in the Danish Act on Competition in Revision- & Regnskabsvæsen no 1/2017, p. 36-52
Review of Christian Bergqvist, Jesper Kaltoft, and Sune Troels Poulsen, Merger Control in Denmark (Fusionskontrol i Danmark) in EU-law and Human Rights Law (EU-ret & Menneskeret) no 4/2012, p. 159-165 (co-author)
Chapters
Withdrawal (of the benefit of a block exemption), Global Dictionary of Competition Law, Concurrences, Art. N° 117573 (2024)
Co-author of Chapter 4 (Denmark) in European Competition Laws (Frank L. Fine, ed., Matthew Bender & Co, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2013, and 2012)
Co-author of chapter on Denmark in Ilene Knable Gotts (ed.), Merger control, 15th edition, Lexology (2024)
Co-author of Vertical Agreements and Dominant Firms 2019 | Denmark, International Comparative Legal Guides, 2019 and 2018
Other
"Et pereat mundus, studies in justice", Copenhagen University prize paper 2004
Danish Society for European Law
Danish Association for Competition Law
Part-time lecturer in The Law of Competition Law and Unfair Competition, University of Copenhagen 2015-2024
Teaching assistant in Market Law, University of Aalborg 2018-2020