His areas of expertise include merger control, complex selective distribution and other distribution-related issues in the e-commerce context and behavioural investigations. He also advises on national security/foreign direct investment and consumer protection matters.
Becket regularly represents clients on merger control and consumer protection matters before the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). He is currently acting for a party in the last High Court proceedings under the old UK consumer protection regime and for another party on one of the first investigations under the new regime.
While his experience covers a broad range of sectors, Becket has a particular interest in the media, technology and life sciences sectors, as well as in the interface between intellectual property and competition law.
Becket has worked in both London and Brussels and is dual-qualified (solicitor of England & Wales and member of the Brussels Bar (A list)).
He studied at the University of Cambridge and has an LL.M. in German civil law from the University of Hamburg. He speaks fluent German and is a member of the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht.
Earlier in his career, Becket served as a branch director for competition enforcement at the Office of Fair Trading (the CMA’s predecessor body) and he retains strong links with UK and EU regulators. Becket was previously a partner in a well-known competition law boutique firm.
Becket regularly comments on competition law developments and has appeared on the BBC’s Today Programme, BBC News, Channel 4 News, Radio 5 Live and CNB
Client, Legal 500 2024-25, EU & competition“Becket McGrath – detailed knowledge of the law and incredibly bright.
Experience includes advising:
- Laumann Group on the UK merger control aspects of its public offer for Epwin Group plc.
- Kinovo Plc on the UK merger control aspects of its acquisition by Sureserve.
- AI company Anthropic on the CMA’s merger reviews of its partnerships with Google and Amazon.
- German software company SAP on the UK merger control aspects of its acquisition of WalkMe.
- online mattress brand Emma Sleep on the CMA’s consumer enforcement investigation of its marketing practices, including defending the company in High Court proceedings brought by the CMA.
- an Austrian building products company on the UK merger control aspects of a European acquisition.
- Imprivata, a global medical technology company, on the competition and public interest aspects of its proposed acquisition of Isosec and subsequent CMA review.
- StubHub on the CMA’s secondary ticketing consumer protection investigation (2013-2020).
- a major consumer goods company on the legislative process leading up to the EU Digital Markets Act.
- a number of investors on notifications under the National Security and Investment Act, primarily in the life sciences and technology sectors.
- a major UK news publisher on a number of strategic competition issues.
- a sports body on the competition law aspects of its media rights strategy.
- a global company on a large green hydrogen technology licensing transaction.
- a collective licensing body on the competition law aspects of an important commercial arrangement with a software company.
- a number of emerging and established brands, as well as media and software companies, on their European distribution arrangements.
Professional
- Admitted as solicitor, England and Wales, 1996
- Admitted as advocaat, Brussels Bar (A list), 2020
- Admitted as solicitor, Ireland (non-practising), 2017
Academic
- Post-Graduate Diploma in European Law of copyright, King’s College London, 1997
- LL.M. (German Civil and Comparative Law), Hamburg University, 1993
- MA (History and Law), University of Cambridge, 1992
- Member of the Competition Committee of the City of London Law Society and the Competition Law Association
- Past chair of the Law Society’s Competition Section
- Member of the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht
- Member of the American Bar Association
Thought Leader, Competition, Lexology Index 2025
- Testing the boundaries of UK merger control, Competition Law Insight, Volume 24, Issue 3, September 2025: author
- The CMA’s Decision in Microsoft/Activision – A Lost Life or Game Over?, Competition Law Insight: November 2023, author
- Re-levelling the playing field – the treatment of online retail under the new EU and UK competition law regimes for vertical agreements, Thomson Reuters, E.C.L.R., Issue 6, June 2023: author
- A new dawn? The United Kingdom’s new competition law regime for vertical agreements, Competition Law Journal, April 2023: author
- UK Competition Appeal Tribunal Judgment Derails CMA Mobile Browsers and Cloud Gaming Market Investigation, Kluwer Competition Law Blog, April 2023: author
- Merger Control Reviews of Recent AI Deals, TL4 Competition Law and Artificial Intelligence Summit, December 2025: panel member
- The UK Competition Regime for Vertical Agreements, joint webinar with Commeo and Schellenberg Wittmer, November 2025: speaker
- UK Merger Control and the Pro-Growth Agenda, TL4 Merger Control Forum, November 2025: panel member
- Merger Control, Growth and Innovation, ICC Competition Conference, October 2025: panel member
- Mergers and Acquisitions – Getting the Deal Through, Informa European Pharma Law Academy, September 2025: speaker
- Digitale Plaformen und Kartellrecht, Swiss Association for Compliance and Competition Law seminar, April 2025: speaker (EU and UK aspects)
- Analysing Investigations and the Use of Evidence in Merger Control Cases, TL4 Merger Control Forum 2024, April 2024: panel chair
- Vertical Agreements UK and EU, 3rd Annual International Antitrust Summer Conference 2023, The Law Society, June 2023: speaker and panel chair
- An Introduction to the UK National Security and Investment Act, Swiss Association for Compliance and Competition Law, 1 November 2022: speaker
- The UK Verticals Regime – A New Dawn, Competition Law Association, London, 4 October 2022: speaker
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