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Dieter Zandler

Partner

Portrait ofDieter Zandler

Dieter Zandler

Partner

Contact
CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz
Rechtsanwälte GmbH
Gauermanngasse 2
1010 Vienna
Austria
Languages German, English, French

Dieter Zandler is a partner specialising in Antitrust, Competition and Trade Law (in particular foreign direct investment control). He heads the Antitrust, Competition and Trade Law team of CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz (Austria and CEE/SEE) and co-heads the Austrian team. Dieter represents national and international companies, especially in cartel (fine), antitrust, merger control and abuse of dominance proceedings before Austrian competition authorities, the European Commission and in court. He also advises his clients on antitrust compliance and antitrust damages claims as well as on foreign direct investment control.

Dieter Zandler represents companies from various sectors, including finance (especially banking and insurance), private equity, energy, packaging, consumer goods, services, IT, telecommunications, media, chemicals, engineering, food and life sciences. 

Dieter Zandler regularly provides courses and trainings, focusing on antitrust compliance and the competition law aspects of distribution contracts and distribution systems. For several years, he is also a guest lecturer at the University of Vienna.

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’‘Dieter Zandler in particular is a valuable advisor who understands the economic context very well and makes well-thought-out suggestions for implementing the objectives. His international knowledge is impressive."

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2024

"He provides great expertise and quick solutions."

Chambers Europe, 2024

Dieter Zandler is always a pleasure to work with. Very experienced and well connected to colleagues in the other CMS offices. 24/7 availability and very responsive. Exceptional legal service.

Legal 500 (2022)

‘Dieter Zandler: very broad expertise, always eager and very responsive."

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2024

"His expertise in Austrian and EU antitrust and competition law has always been accurate and practicable. His team has worked together excellently."

The Legal 500, 2021

"Dieter Zandler provides very reliable advice and convinces with detailed and in-depth result down to the last point."

The Legal 500, 2021

"Dieter Zandler has a great deal of experience in the field of antitrust and competition law. We see him as a perfectionist taking care of every detail and offering top-notch advice always on time and on a wide range of antitrust issues."

The Legal 500, 2021

’‘Dieter Zandler in particular is a valuable advisor who understands the economic context very well and makes well-thought-out suggestions for implementing the objectives. His international knowledge is impressive."

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2024

"He provides great expertise and quick solutions."

Chambers Europe, 2024

Dieter Zandler is always a pleasure to work with. Very experienced and well connected to colleagues in the other CMS offices. 24/7 availability and very responsive. Exceptional legal service.

Legal 500 (2022)

‘Dieter Zandler: very broad expertise, always eager and very responsive."

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2024

"His expertise in Austrian and EU antitrust and competition law has always been accurate and practicable. His team has worked together excellently."

The Legal 500, 2021

"Dieter Zandler provides very reliable advice and convinces with detailed and in-depth result down to the last point."

The Legal 500, 2021

"Dieter Zandler has a great deal of experience in the field of antitrust and competition law. We see him as a perfectionist taking care of every detail and offering top-notch advice always on time and on a wide range of antitrust issues."

The Legal 500, 2021

Memberships & Roles

  • Austrian Bar Association 
  • Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht 
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Awards & Rankings

  • Often recommended, JUVE Ranking Antitrust Law, JUVE - Magazine for Business Lawyers in Austria 11-12/2018, 11-12/2020, 11-12/ 2022. 
  • EU & Competition: Next Generation Partner, Legal 500 Austria, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023. 
  • Ranked lawyer, Competition/European Law - Austria, Chambers Europe, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.
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Publications

The Law Reviews publications: 
  • Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 4: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Merger Control Review14 (2023) 53.
  • Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 5: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Merger Control Review13 (2022) 72. 
  • Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 6: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Merger Control Review12 (2021) 86. 
  • Zandler/Marterer/Horaceck, Chapter 7: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Merger Control Review11 (2020) 93. 
  • Zandler/Marterer/Horaceck, Chapter 8: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Merger Control Review10 (2019) 89. 
  • Zandler/Marterer, Chapter 8: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Merger Control Review9 (2018) 85. 
  • Elsner/Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 3: Austria, in Knable Gotts/Schwartz (eds.), The Private Competition Enforcement Review16 (2023) 22.
  • Elsner/Zandler/Scharf, Chapter 3: Austria, in Knable Gotts/Schwartz (eds.), The Private Competition Enforcement Review15 (2022) 22.  
  • Elsner/Zandler/Wimmer-Nistelberge, Chapter 4: Austria, in Knable Gotts/Schwartz (eds.), The Private Competition Enforcement Review14 (2021) 37.
  • Elsner/Zandler/Wimmer-Nistelberge, Chapter 4: Austria, in Knable Gotts/Schwartz (eds.), The Private Competition Enforcement Review13 (2020) 35.
  • Elsner/Zandler/Wimmer-Nistelberger, Chapter 4: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Private Competition Enforcement Review12 (2019) 36. 
  • Elsner/Zandler/Kos, Chapter 5: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Private Competition Enforcement Review11 (2018) 41. 
  • Elsner/Zandler/Kos, Chapter 5: Austria, in Knable Gotts (ed.), The Private Competition Enforcement Review10 (2017) 51. 
  • Elsner/Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 2: Austria, in Dolmans/Mostyn/Todd (ed.), The Dominance and Monopolies Review11 (2023) 12.
  • Elsner/Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 3: Austria, in Dolmans/Mostyn (eds.), The Dominance and Monopolies Review9 (2021) 29. 
  • Elsner/Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 3: Austria, in Dolmans/Mostyn (eds.) The Dominance and Monopolies Review8 (2020) 30. 
  • Elsner/Zandler/Horaceck, Chapter 3: Austria, in Dolmans/Mostyn (eds.), The Dominance and Monopolies Review7 (2019) 27. 
  • Elsner/Zandler/Kos, Chapter 3: Austria, in Dolmans/Mostyn (eds.), The Dominance and Monopolies Review6 (2018) 25. 
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Lectures list

  • Dieter Zandler regularly provides courses and trainings, focusing on antitrust compliance and the competition law aspects of distribution contracts and distribution systems. For several years, he is also a guest lecturer at the University of Vienna in the field of distribution (antitrust) law in the courses of Univ. Prof. RA Dr. Johannes Reich-Rohrwig.
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Education

  • 2011 – Admission to the bar 
  • 2006 – MA, Law, Central European University, Budapest/New York 
  • 2006 – Visiting JD Programme, Emory University School of Law, Atlanta 
  • 2005 – Erasmus, ELTE ÁJK, Budapest 
  • 2005 – Dr. iur., Law, University of Salzburg 
  • 2002 – Mag. iur., Law, University of Salzburg 
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Expertise

12/05/2022
10 key aspects of the revised EU competition law in the field of distribution...
The new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the new accompanying Vertical Guidelines (VGL) were published on 10 May 2022. The new VBER will enter into force on 1 June 2022 and apply for the next twelve years. The new VBER/VGL introduce sev
Law-Now Distribution and Franchising

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15/03/2024
CMS advises Sfakianakis Group on the acquisition of Ajar Car Rental
Press release - 15 March 2024 CMS Austria has advised the Greek Sfakianakis Group on the acquisition of Ajar Car Rental GmbH from the Saudi Arabian Al Jomaih Group, providing comprehensive legal advice on the project. Ajar Car Rental GmbH is the master franchisee of Enterprise, National, and Alamo in Austria, serving rent-a-car customers across the country. During the acquisition, the CMS Austria team provided significant support and advice on all areas of the transaction, including due diligence, employment, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, banking and finance, data protection and competition. Alexander Rakosi (Partner, Corporate/M&A) led the CMS core transaction team, which further consisted of Christoph Birner (Associate, Corporate/M&A) and Thomas Liegl (Associate, Corporate/M&A). Alexander Rakosi comments: “We are very pleased to have successfully supported the Sfakianakis Group on its market entry into Austria and to have contributed to our client's continued growth in the automotive industry."The CMS due diligence team included Rebecca Herlitz (Associate, Corporate/M&A), Mariella Kapoun (Partner, Real Estate), Hans Lederer (Partner, Intellectual Property), Andreas Lichtenberger (At­tor­ney-at-Law, Data Protection), Caroline Pavitsits (Associate, Employment), Kai Ruckelshausen (Partner, Banking & Finance), Sheldon Sookdeo (Associate, Banking & Finance), Maximilian Uidl (Associate, Real Estate), Marlene Wim­mer-Nistel­ber­ger (Partner, Regulatory), Jens Winter (Partner, Employment) and Dieter Zandler (Partner, Competition), as well as legal trainees Roman Namestek, Ferdinand Sima and Mattias Torggler. PHH Rechtsanwälte, led by Rainer Kaspar and Philip Rosenauer, provided legal support to Al Jomaih. About Sfakianakis Group Founded in 1958, Sfakianakis Group is one of the leading diversified business groups in Greece, with a core focus on the Automotive, Industrial and Consumer Retail sectors. Headquartered in Athens, Greece, the Group is 100% family owned and employs over 1,500 individuals across 14 countries in Europe. Within the Automotive sector, the Group operates one of the largest automotive retail businesses in the region, the distribution businesses of BYD and Suzuki, a leading long-term leasing business (Executive Lease), and a rapidly growing Rent-A-Car business as the Master Franchisee of En­ter­prise-Na­tion­al-Alamo in 14 countries.
Press releases
24/10/2023
The Dominance and Monopolies Review 11 | Austria
Eleventh Edition
Publication
04/09/2023
The Merger Control Review | Austria
Fourteenth Edition
Publication
27/03/2023
The Private Competition Enforcement Review I Austria Chapter
16th Edition
Publication
23/03/2023
CMS advises ALPLA on joint venture with Inden Pharma
Press release - 22.03.2023An international team of experts from CMS advised the ALPLA Group on establishing a joint venture with the Spanish packaging company Inden Pharma. The core CMS Vienna team, led by Alexander Rakosi, included Florian Mayer and Anna Hiegel­sper­ger.   The ALPLA Group and Inden Pharma have strengthened their presence in the pharmaceutical market by founding a joint venture. ALPLA Pharma is contributing production sites in Greece and Poland to the cooperation and Inden Pharma two plants in Spain. Together they plan to set up a site in Germany and triple their production over the next five years. Such cross-border joint venture projects present numerous legal challenges, whose successful implementation requires seamless cooperation between internationally experienced teams from various practice groups and jurisdictions. The expert team for the current ALPLA deal included lawyers from CMS offices in Austria, Spain, Germany and Poland. Alexander Rakosi, Partner at CMS Vienna and responsible for the successful conclusion of the joint venture says: "Cross-border technology and know-how transfer are becoming increasingly important for our clients’ sustainable economic success. We are therefore delighted to have made a valuable contribution to this deal with our global CMS network, our international experience and our in-depth expertise on cross-border deals."The CMS Austria team consisted of corporate/M&A experts Alexander Rakosi, Florian Mayer, Anna Hiegelsperger, Livia Landskron, Ramona Mujanovic, Rebecca Herlitz, Rupert Riedl and Hannah Gierlinger. The Intellectual Property department was represented by Hans Lederer. Dieter Zandler, Vanessa Horaceck and Stefan Sottner were dealing with antitrust and competition law issues. The CMS Spain team, led by Luis Miguel De Dios and Jorge Peris Hevia, also included corporate/M&A experts Ana Vázquez Recio, Lucía Signes de Mesa and Saphira Mouzayek. Víctor Sanjuán Mira, María José Ramos Aguilar, Guillermo García Diéguez, Irene San Martín García and Ricardo Gómez-Barreda de la Gándara were also involved in the due diligence process. Tax law expertise was provided by Ricardo Héctor and Marta Burgos Murillo. The CMS Germany team included Malte Bruhns, Laura Christin Stein, Christin Fischer and Moritz Ziegler. The CMS Poland team consisted of Blazej Zagorski, Joanna Bialoskorska and Aleksandra Dalecka.
Deals
03/03/2023
CMS advises DPE on sale of VTU
Press release - 03 March 2023An international CMS team advised DPE Deutsche Private Equity GmbH (DPE) on all aspects of the transaction. The team included lawyers from CMS offices in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Romania and Poland.   DPE is selling its stake in VTU Group, a leading European provider of engineering solutions for the life science industry based in Graz, to Altor Funds. The Swedish private equity firm, which invests in mid-sized companies with the aim of creating value through growth initiatives and operational improvements, prevailed in a bidding process. The sellers, DPE-owned funds, were advised on all aspects of the transaction by an international CMS team led by Hendrik Hirsch (CMS Germany). The transaction is subject to the requisite approvals from the competent authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the trans­ac­tion.   The CMS Austria team led by Alexander Rakosi consisted of corporate/M&A experts Florian Mayer, Marco Selenic and Christoph Birner. The employment department was represented by Jens Winter and Shima Babanzadeh. Competition issues were handled by Dieter Zandler. Real estate law expertise was provided by Mariella Kapoun and Maximilian Uidl. Marlene Wim­mer-Nistel­ber­ger was in charge of public law issues and Thomas Aspalter saw to tax is­sues.   Al­ex­an­der Rakosi, partner at CMS in Vienna and leader of the Austrian team, is enthusiastic about the cross-border cooperation: “Once again, we were able to demonstrate our international expertise, especially in the private equity area, in a multi-jur­is­dic­tion­al project – congratulations to all involved!”
Deals
19/08/2022
THE MERGER CONTROL REVIEW - AUSTRIA I Thirteenth Edition
August 2022The Merger Control Review provides an incisive overview and analysis of the pre-merger competition and notification regimes across key jurisdictions worldwide, as well as a discussion of recent decisions, strategic considerations and likely upcoming de­vel­op­ments. CMS experts Dieter Zandler and Vanessa Horaceck provided the chapter on Austria. 
Publication
01/08/2022
The Dominance and Monopolies Review: Austria
The Austrian competition team has provided a comprehensive review of the most recent developments in the field of abuse of dominance in Austria as part of the 10th edition of the Dominance and Monopolies Review. In this chapter Bernt Elsner, Partner and Head of Austria and CEE Competition PAG,  Dieter Zandler, Co-Head of the Austrian competition practice group, and Vanessa Horaceck, Associate in the Austrian competition practice group cover the distinct characteristics of Austrian antitrust law and provide an overview of the most prominent cases in the past years. Readers can familiarise themselves with the recent practice of the Austrian FCA and courts in the field of abuse of a dominant market position, as for example in the OGH’s ruling against Peugeot Austria GmbH or the case against Merck Sharp & Dohme GmbH, who allegedly abused a dominant position through their predatory pricing of a drug used to treat brain tumours. Also worth reading is an overview of the most important final decisions in abuse proceedings before the Austrian cartel courts in recent years, most of which were initiated by private plaintiffs. The entire article is available here. Our CMS experts will be happy to answer any questions on this topic.
Publication
08/07/2022
Packaging specialist ALPLA expands in Poland - CMS advises on cross-border...
With the support of CMS, the ALPLApharma division further expands its position in Central and Eastern Europe by taking over APON. The internationally active packaging company ALPLA is strengthening the presence of its pharmaceutical division in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) following the acquisition of the Polish company APON. APON was founded in 1985 as a family business. Today, around 45 employees produce plastic packaging for the pharmaceutical industry at the Żyrardów site near Warsaw. Among other things, APON manufactures primary packaging for medicines in accordance with ISO 15378 under clean room conditions. With a staff of around 22,100 at 177 locations in 45 countries worldwide, ALPLA is one of the leading companies in the sphere of plastic packaging and recycling. Alexander Rakosi, Partner and M&A expert at CMS Vienna, is pleased about the closing of the transaction: “We are very proud that we have been able to continue supporting the successful ALPLA Group in the course of its international expansion, this time in the pharmaceutical sector; relying on our international network and our practice groups fully integrated across national borders, we are in a position to offer our clients a customised package of efficient, high quality legal and transactional cross-border advice.”The international CMS team was led by Alexander Rakosi. Marie-Christine Lidl, Anna Hiegelsperger and Dieter Zandler from CMS Vienna were on the team as well. The team of experts from CMS Warsaw was made up of Błażej Zagórski, Joanna Bialoskorska, Kinga Mogilnicka, Aleksandra Dalecka, Tomasz Piotrowski, Michał Serwa, Maciej Olejnik, Agnieszka Górecka, Marta Trębacka, Katarzyna Łoś, Maciej Andrzejewski and Karolina Terech.
Deals
31/03/2022
CMS advises Siemens Austria on sale of Austrian facility management business
Apleona acquires Siemens Ge­bäu­de­m­an­age­ment und -Services (SGS). CMS Vienna provides comprehensive legal support to Siemens Aus­tria.   Siemens Austria has agreed to sell Siemens Ge­bäu­de­m­an­age­ment & -Services G.m.b.H. (SGS) to Apleona. The closing of the transaction is expected in the third quarter of the financial year and is subject to customary antitrust approvals. Both companies have maintained a good and close relationship for years. SGS will be further strengthened by joining forces with Apleona, resulting in an expanded and improved range of ser­vices.   Siemens Austria is being legally advised and supported by the Viennese law firm CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz under the leadership of Alexander Rakosi, partner in the Corporate/M&A department. The core CMS team further consists of M&A experts Florian Mayer, Marie-Christine Lidl, Anna Hiegelsperger and Matthias Emich. Sibylle Novak and Alexander Hiermann deal with tax law issues, Andrea Potz, and Jens Winter assist on labour law topics and Bernt Elsner and Marlene Wim­mer-Nistel­ber­ger advise on competition law. Additional support during the course of the transaction came from Daniela Karollus-Bruner, Robert Keisler, Dieter Zandler and Clemens Gross­may­er.   Al­ex­an­der Rakosi is pleased with the successful deal signing: “We are proud to be able to support Siemens on this project with a cross-de­part­ment­al team and contribute to further entrenching Siemens as a focused technology company in Aus­tria.”   Siemens Ge­bäu­de­m­an­age­ment & -Services ¬G.m.b.H., based in Vienna, is a successful man­u­fac­turer-in­de­pend­ent full-service provider in the technical building¬ management¬ sector with around 260 employees. Its customers include institutions from the health care, culture and education, trade and logistics sectors, as well as renowned commercial enterprises. In the last business year, it achieved a turnover of around 75 million euros.
Deals
10/03/2022
The Private Competition Enforcement Review I Austria Chapter
Fifteenth Edition
Publication
23/02/2022
CMS and KPMG Legal Advise on Greiner’s Sale of Extrusion Division to Nimbus
Published on CEE Legal Matters | February 23, 2022 CMS has advised Greiner on the sale of its extrusion division, including operational assets in Austria and the Czech Republic, to Nimbus. KPMG Legal advised Nimbus. Greiner is an Austrian plastics and foam specialist company.
Press coverage
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