Khushbu Kumar
Khushbu is a senior associate in the Competition, Regulation and Trade team in Paris.
Khushbu's practices focuses on EU and French antitrust and competition law (cartels, anticompetitive practices, abuse of dominant position, merger control for domestic and cross-border transactions). She advises and represents clients before both EU and French competition authorities and courts.
She also assists clients with respect to antitrust investigations (dawn raids, requests for information), damages claims further to anticompetitive practices (private enforcement).
She has also developed particular knowledge in litigation, in particular distribution law matters, unfair competition cases and regulatory.
In addition, Khushbu has been increasingly involved in matters relating to companies active in the following sectors: IT services, oil and gas, consumer retail, real estate, as well as chemical products, pharma and e-commerce sector.
Background
Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills, Khushbu worked with various international well-established law firms and companies in the sectors of consumer retail and electric specialties. She also interned with the European Commission (DG Competition – Cartels) in Brussels.
Khushbu graduated from the Paris-Dauphine University with a Master in Business law.
She also intervenes as a visiting professor on Cartels and Abuse of dominance at the Faculté Libre de Droit, Catholic University of Lille.
Khushbu is admitted to the Paris Bar and is fluent in French, English, Hindi and Penjabi.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- Nexity, France’s leading integrated real estate group, on the signature of an agreement to acquire a 55% stake in the capital of the Angelotti group, the regional leader in property development and urban planning in Occitania in the south of France with the remaining shares being held by the company's managers
- Diageo, a global leader of beverage alcohol, on its agreement to sell 100% of Guinness Cameroon S.A., one of the most important brewers in Cameroon, to France's Castel Group for £389,000,000
- Representing a company active in the chemical commodities sector before the Paris Court of Appeal in the context of an appeal against a sanction decision issued by the French Competition Authority for participation to a cartel and obtention of a reduction of fine*
- Representing a company before French courts in the context of an appeal against a sanction decision issued by the French Competition Authority for obstruction to investigation and obtaining the declaration of unconstitutionality of the French legal provision sanctioning obstruction with administrative fine*
- Acting on behalf of several companies in the context of a litigation for the revocation of orders authorising investigative measures such as the seizure of confidential documents covered by business secrecy *
* Experience acquired prior to joining HSF
