Oxera has announced the appointment of Dr Gunnar Niels as its next Managing Partner.
Gunnar succeeds Dr Helen Jenkins following completion of her successful five-year term. Helen will continue to play an important role in Oxera’s leadership team. Gunnar has been part of Oxera’s leadership team for over 15 years, helping it build out its core practices of competition, regulation and litigation across a range of jurisdictions.
Gunnar has been with Oxera for nearly 23 years, having joined in 1999 following four years as Deputy Head of Mexico’s Federal Competition Commission. He is an internationally recognised expert and his experience covers mergers, restrictive agreements, abuse of dominance, damages, regulation and state aid.
Gunnar has advised companies including Liberty Global, Mastercard, Royal Mail, Facebook and Deutsche Bahn, as well as the European Commission. He has given expert testimony in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Finland, Spain, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand.
A native of the Netherlands, Gunnar has an MSc and PhD in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and speaks Dutch, English, German and Spanish. He co-authored the leading textbook Economics for Competition Lawyers (2nd ed 2016, Oxford University Press).
Gunnar will be working closely with Oxera’s Partners to continue to grow the firm’s European footprint, from which it serves clients globally; and to enhance the use of economics and finance in major global policy areas including climate change and regulatory frameworks in sectors such as financial services, digital, transport and energy.
In addition to his management responsibilities, Gunnar will continue his advisory practice within Oxera.
Oxera, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2022, has eight offices across the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy. It employs more than 200 people and speaks 30 languages.
Dr Gunnar Niels says: ‘It has been a privilege working closely with Helen over the past few years and to have benefited from her considerable experience and leadership.
I will continue in her tradition of championing Oxera’s unique practical application of economics and finance, bringing the best of economic insight. Crucially, we do this as an integrated European economics and finance consultancy that leading businesses, policymakers and law firms across the globe turn to with their high-profile and complex issues.’
Dr Helen Jenkins says: ‘The last five years have been incredibly rewarding and I’m extremely proud of all that Oxera has achieved. Gunnar’s wealth of expertise make him the ideal fit to take Oxera to the next stage of its European growth. I’m very excited at the prospect of working alongside Gunnar to help realise this.’