Simon Neill

Simon is the head of Osborne Clarke’s UK competition practice, with nearly thirty years’ experience advising clients on all aspects of UK competition law, merger control and, more recently, NSIA matters.

Simon has extensive experience handling mergers and investigations before the Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission.  As well as a keen interest in the branded retail, life science and technology sectors, Simon is increasingly undertaking contentious work, including sector and individual company investigations and private enforcement claims. Simon has a thriving advisory practice, regularly advising clients on the competition law aspects of their distribution and commercial trading arrangements.

Simon’s recent work includes advising a grocery supplier on the CMA's inquiry into the groceries market; carrying out an internal investigation on behalf of an international consumer goods supplier; obtaining unconditional EU Merger Regulation clearances for Octopus Energy's joint acquisition of a heat pump manufacturer and Vodafone's joint acquisition of a technology spin-out business; coordinating the international merger clearances in respect of BioNTech's £562m acquisition of InstaDeep; advising Grifols on the merger control aspects of its €1.1m acquisition of Biotest AG and securing CMA Phase I clearance of RM plc's disposal of two educational software businesses.

After graduating in law from Pembroke College, Cambridge, Simon qualified as a lawyer in 1995 and joined Osborne Clarke as a Partner in 2005. His earlier career included nine years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, including two years in their Brussels office. He is a member of the Law Society’s Competition Section and American Bar Association (Antitrust Section). In quieter moments, Simon is a keen cyclist and landscape photographer.