Sophia Haq
Clayton Utz
Special Counsel
Sydney
Overview
Sophia is a highly regarded Special Counsel advising on competition, consumer law and regulatory matters. Sophia is known for her expertise in securing ACCC merger clearance, advising on competition issues in corporate/ commercial transactions as well as digital platform regulation.
Sophia is well versed in the nuances of dealing with different regulators and legal regimes and regularly acts as local Australian counsel in cross-border deals. In 2021, Sophia returned to Clayton Utz after previously working in the Competition team of a prominent London Magic Circle firm.
Notable Work
- Brickworks: acting for Brickworks Limited and its subsidiary Austral WA in private antitrust litigation commenced against BGC Australia, alleging BGC unlawfully acquired the WA Midland brick and masonry business despite ACCC informal merger clearance and that BGC's pricing practices over several years were predatory in contravention of the misuse of market power (abuse) prohibition in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
- Dye & Durham: secured ACCC merger clearance with remedies of this Canadian software and technology company's proposed $2.9 billion takeover of ASX listed Link Administration Holdings Limited.
- Nuance: acted as local competition counsel, secured ACCC merger clearance of this transcription software company's US$19.7 billion sale to Microsoft following a public review.
- Thyssenkrupp: acted as local competition counsel for Thyssenkrupp on its sale of its Mining Technologies business unit to Danish mining and cement technology company FLSmidth, unconditionally cleared by the ACCC with no public review.
- Figma: acted as local competition counsel for Figma in relation to Adobe's proposed USD $20 billion acquisition of Figma.
- Port Authority of NSW: advised on competition aspects of a suite of complex contracts with private sector and government agencies.
Insights
Merger control Bill improves some elements of exposure draft, but concerns for business remain
10 Oct 2024 | Article
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Competition law “not an immovable obstacle” in the move toward a sustainable economy
24 Jul 2024 | Article
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Government releases exposure draft legislation on merger reforms, with impact on future acquisition strategy
24 Jul 2024 | Article
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Byte-sized insights: ACCC releases its eighth DPSI Report on data
27 May 2024 | Article
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Faster, stronger and simpler? Ambitious changes to Australia's merger control regime announced by Treasury
10 Apr 2024 | Article
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Digital Platform Regulatory Reform – Government flags "in principle" support for ACCC recommendations
8 Dec 2023 | Article
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Treasury publishes consultation paper on proposed merger reforms
22 Nov 2023 | Article
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Shock-proofing Australia: Budget 2023 sparks new funding for energy and scam solutions
19 May 2023 | Article
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Labor Government’s plans for “better” competition and consumer law
7 Jul 2022 | Article
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ACCC continues to push for merger reform following ex post review of completed mergers
17 Mar 2022 | Article
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