Tünde Gönczöl

Practice Areas

Tünde Gönczöl is a counsel and co-head of Dentons Budapest office’s Competition and Antitrust practice group. Her extensive knowledge of competition law stems from her previous positions at the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition.

Tünde has extensive experience in advising clients from a wide range of industries on various competition law related matters, as well as representing clients before the Competition Authority and the courts in competition law cases, including merger, cartel and unfair competition cases. She has also regularly advised telecommunications and energy companies in various antitrust and regulatory matters.

Her experience includes advising on state aid and corporate compliance matters, and she has participated in numerous Hungarian and EU competition supervision proceedings on both sides of the table, including the first dawn raid conducted in Hungary.

Work Highlights

- An asset manager owned by the foundation established by the National Bank of Hungary: Advising on the acquisition of the largest privately-owned university in Hungary from the largest private equity fund dedicated to investments in CEE, for a cash consideration of US$50 million; Advising on the merger clearance aspects of its acquisition from a global private equity firm, of a Dutch holding company that owns a 61 percent stake in a leading Warsaw-headquartered CEE commercial real estate development company.

- Leading Class “A” office building and shopping mall investor and developer: Advising on the acquisition of the Ericsson and Siemens Evosoft Headquarters in Budapest from one of Hungary’s biggest real estate developer and investor companies.

- World-leading telecommunication service provider: Representing in a litigation against the GVH concerning its decision by which it imposed a significant fine on the client for infringing the provisions of the Act on the Prohibition of Unfair Commercial Practices Against Consumers.

- One of the key players in the Hungarian telecommunications and infocommunications market: Representing the client as a plaintiff before the court in several procedures aimed at challenging the legality of the so-called telecom tax (a sector specific duty imposed on telecommunications providers).

- One of the leading telecommunications companies in Hungary: Representing before the Metropolitan Court in an administrative court procedure initiated for the judicial review of a decision of the GVH. The GVH fined the client because it allegedly provided misleading information in a merger clearance procedure.

- Europe’s largest cable television service provider: Representing as defendant before the Metropolitan Court in a procedure initiated by one of its wholesale purchasers. The purchaser claimed that the client infringed several provisions of the law prohibiting unfair competition and requested compensation for harms caused to its reputation. At the end the dispute was settled, with a favorable outcome for both parties.

- Swiss watch and clock manufacturer and designer: Advising the company in relation to a tort litigation, which involved private enforcement of competition law.

- Second largest Hungarian online consumer electronics retailer: Advising on the competition aspects of the merger with the largest online retailer in Hungary. The GVH conducted an in-depth investigation but we convinced the GVH that the transaction be approved without conditions as we successfully argued that the online and offline retail markets should be defined as one single market. The deal won the 2019 “CEE Deal of the Year” award for Hungary by CEE Legal Matters.

- Innovative Hungarian company active in the medical devices sector: Successful representation in a cartel case before the GVH concerning the distribution of deep brain stimulation devices in Hungary. While the GVH’s statement of objections suggested that all four companies concerned by the investigation infringed competition law and were engaged in public procurement cartels, the proceedings have been terminated against our client.

- Producer and distributor of health care products: Representing in the merger procedure investigating its acquisition of a competitor. This merger procedure involved an in-depth investigation by the GVH.

- South African publicly listed health and care brands company: Advising on the competition law and merger clearance aspects of its auction sale of a Hungary-based global sports nutrition company, to a member of a US sports nutrition group of companies.

German chemical company: Advising the in relation to various competition law issues in respect of its operations in Hungary.

- Leading Swedish consumer goods company: Successfully representing in a cartel investigation initiated by the GVH against paper producers together with retailers, based on allegations of price fixing via hub and spoke arrangements. The GVH terminated the case against the client, and thanks to our defense strategy, all charges were successfully rebutted; a GVH complaint procedure concerning alleged unfair commercial practices in relation to its products.

- Leading multinational food giant:

Conducting annual internal competition law audits. The work includes forensic auditing, interviews and the assessment of potential competition law risks, as well as recommending appropriate measures, with a focus on vertical market relationships. Also assisting the client in adjusting its compliance policy—including its dawn raid guidelines—to local requirements; Providing advice related to unfair competition, consumer protection and advertising law; Providing legal advice in relation to an investigation by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, which started with a dawn raid and included forensic auditing.

- Multinational software company: Advising in relation to a GVH complaint procedure concerning alleged abuse of dominant position and potential cartel charges.

- Hungarian subsidiary of a world leading automotive company: Providing competition law advice to the client on a continuous basis including vertical and horizontal aspects of competition law; Conducting a complex data protection audit and implementing GDPR related data protection policies and processes.

- Austria-based traffic technology company: Representing its Hungarian subsidiary in a competition control procedure investigating alleged public procurement cartels in the road marking and road sign industry. The investigation, which started with dawn raids, essentially covered the entire industry in Hungary and it encompasses alleged cartel behavior reaching back several years.

- Hungarian subsidiary of a global cigarette and tobacco company: Providing strategic advice with respect to Hungarian and European competition law aspects related to the introduction and planned distribution of a new product line.

- Multinational electronic device manufacturer: Providing strategic advice and representation in a GVH complaint procedure against the Hungarian copyright collecting society, in an abuse of dominant position case.

Languages Spoken

English, German and Hungarian