Competition, Consumer Protection & Distribution

Alliance Law’s Competition, Consumer Protection & Distribution practice provides comprehensive support across all related areas. Our expertise includes merger control, investigations, and compliance programs under competition law; regulatory guidance and risk mitigation regarding compliance with consumer protection law; and strategic advice on distribution networks, franchise agreements, and commercial policies.

Practice Areas

Competition, Consumer Protection & Distribution

Overview

Egypt’s legal landscape for competition, consumer protection, and distribution law continues to evolve, with businesses facing increasing compliance obligations and regulatory scrutiny.

The introduction of the pre-merge control regime in 2022 marked a significant step in competition enforcement, while regulations governing consumer protection and distribution continue to shape commercial practices.

Alliance Law’s team is well positioned to provide comprehensive legal support to national and multinational clients across competition, consumer protection, and distribution matters.

Competition: Alliance Law advises clients on substantive and procedural competition law matters, including complex local and cross-border merger clearance, competition investigations, litigation, and legal opinions. We also assist in designing and implementing compliance programs to help businesses anticipate and navigate evolving enforcement trends.

Consumer Protection: Our team guides clients on regulatory obligations relating to consumer protection matters, helping structure business practices that align with current laws and standards. We provide practical advice to ensure that commercial operations, policies, and procedures protect consumers while mitigating legal and regulatory risks.

Distribution: Alliance Law also advises on distribution matters, including drafting and negotiating distribution and franchise agreements, structuring and managing distribution networks, and setting pricing and commercial policies. Our services ensure that businesses operate efficiently while remaining fully compliant with competition, consumer protection, and commercial regulations.

Alliance Law’s dedicated Competition, Consumer Protection & Distribution team features highly esteemed lawyers, including former officials from the ECA, bringing a wealth of local and international experience and a deep understanding of regulatory processes, with frequent interactions with authorities, courts, and policymakers.

Competition Expertise:

Competition Compliance

In today’s ever-changing world/realm of business and ECA vigorous enforcement policy, adherence to competition laws is crucial. Our team specializes in guiding clients, assisting them in monitoring, detecting, and enforcing competition and compliance policies to prevent any violations. From conducting thorough audits to mock dawn raids, we address practices and policies in order to ensure their compliance with competition law requirements.

Merger Control Filings

With extensive experience in merger clearance, we conduct early in-depth assessments of potential competition issues, propose risk mitigation plans, and collaborate with the ECA to secure approvals for complex national and cross-border transactions.

Competition Investigations

Our team brings a wealth of experience representing clients before the ECA, covering a wide range of matters such as cartels, abuse of dominance, vertical restraints and leniency programs.
With a proven track record, we have successfully navigated numerous competition investigations before the ECA, resolving them without charges or through negotiated settlements.
Our prompt response to dawn raids conducted by the ECA ensures that clients avoid critical pitfalls and mount an effective defense when necessary.

Competition Litigation and Private Enforcement

Combining technical expertise with strategic advice, the competition team in collaboration with our Litigation team assist clients in pursuing or defending competition-related claims before the Egyptian public prosecutor, the economic courts and the other competent Egyptian courts. Additionally, we provide guidance on complex procedural and substantive matters arising from civil claims related to competition law matters.

Competition Training

Our team offers tailored competition law training and compliance programs to clients’ employees and senior management, ensuring that their policies and business plans align with competition law rules. Through our services, we support clients in reaching their business objectives while mitigating the potential risk of competition law violations.
We have conducted training programs across a wide range of industry sectors, including food and agriculture, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and automotive.

Consumer Protection Expertise:

Consumer Protection Compliance and Advisory:

Our team advises clients on aligning their practices, policies, and commercial operations with applicable consumer protection law requirements. We assist in monitoring and assessing compliance risks, offering practical and strategic guidance to prevent violations and reduce exposure to regulatory scrutiny.

Regulatory Investigations:

We represent clients before the Consumer Protection Agency and other relevant authorities in investigations, complaints, or enforcement actions. Our team assists clients in resolving consumer protection disputes, negotiating settlements, and defending against regulatory inquiries.

Consumer Protection Policies:

Alliance Law assists businesses in structuring commercial operations and policies to ensure compliance with consumer protection law requirements.

Distribution Expertise:

Distribution Terms and Conditions

Our team is equipped with the technical expertise to advise clients regarding their distribution agreements, franchise agreements, and other commercial arrangements, as well as policies and commercial sales strategies. We advise clients on setting pricing structures, discount schemes, rebates, and commercial policies, ensuring alignment with competition and distribution rules while supporting clients’ commercial objectives.

Distribution Networks

Efficient distribution networks serve as the backbone of the success of any business. Our team collaborates with clients to build and expand their distribution networks, identifying key criteria for selecting potential contractors and establishing clear conditions for terminating/ending commercial relationships. Additionally, we specialize in guiding clients through the pre-contractual phase with third parties. 

Distribution Compliance and Risk Assessment

We assist clients in reviewing and assessing distribution arrangements, including exclusivity clauses, territorial restrictions, and non-compete provisions, to identify potential legal risks and ensure compliance with applicable competition and commercial regulations. Our team helps clients structure distribution models in a legally compliant manner and implement corrective measures where necessary to mitigate regulatory and enforcement risks.

Disputes and Termination

We support clients in managing disputes arising from distribution relationships, including termination, non-renewal, and breach-related matters, and work closely with our Litigation team where disputes escalate into formal proceedings.

Transactional Highlights:

  • Alliance Law was awarded the IFLR 2024 Middle East Award for Deal of the Year for our role as Egyptian legal counsel for Philip Morris International in the acquisition of Eastern Tobacco Company, Egypt’s largest cigarette manufacturer. In this transaction, we secured the approval of the Egyptian Competition Authority and ensured full compliance with competition laws and regulations.
  • Conducted merger control assessment for clients such as ADNOC and Philip Morris Misr.
  • Successfully executed the first leniency case before the ECA, ensuring the full protection for our client in the pharmaceutical sector and reducing the potential fine from EGP 5 billion.
  • Represented Aeolus Tyres before ECA and COMESA to obtain clearance for its global structuring.
  • Acted as legal counsel of the Egyptian Cement Association to handle all the legal areas facing the cement industry in Egypt and specifically full compliance with competition law.
  • Acted as legal counsel for the Egyptian Cement Association before the ECA for to obtain an exemption from the horizontal agreement “Cartels” ban regarding the reduction of cement companies’ production capacity.
  • Provided competition compliance programs and training for local and multinationals such as Vodafone, Philip Morris Misr, Lesaffre Egypt, Beyti, and Titan Egyptto ensure full compliance with competition law.
  • Assisted and advised our clients such as Intercement, Pirelli, Philip Morris Misr, Ezz Elarab, Lafarge Egypt, Vodafone and Lipton Egypt in setting their commercial/sales policies, agreements and guidelines to ensure compliance with the competition law rules and policy.
  • Assisted in and prepared a legal memo for AlSafwa Cement, one of the largest Saudi Cement companies, regarding a matter before the General Authority for Competition in Saudi Arabia (KSA).
  • Assisted in resolving a bid rigging case for our client in the petrochemicals sector (Mansoura for Resins & Chemical Industries), achieving a successful settlement.
  • Represented our client in the food sector (Lesaffre) in settling an abuse of dominance case before ECA.
  • Assisted and represented several multinational and clients before the ECA to secure clearance for merger control filings, including Philip Morris International, Alat Technologies (PIF affiliate), Amreyah Cement and Reliance Group.
  • Assisted and advised several clients on their sale, distribution and franchise agreements and policies, including Ezz Elarab, Lipton Tea Egypt, Nobeltex, Nile Projects, Amreyah Cement and Lesaffre Egypt.
  • Advised and assisted several clients on their commercial and sales policy to ensure compliance with Consumer Protection Law, including Philip Morris Misr and Beymen Egypt.