Gitte Holtsø is a specialist in EU competition law and public procurement law. Gitte heads our EU and Competition Law team. Gitte began her career at the Danish Ministry of Justice, which included working as a public prosecutor and as a deputy judge. She has a Master of Laws (L.LM.) from the University of Cambridge and she qualified as an English solicitor at BPP Law School in London in 2000 whilst working at Charles Russell's Solicitors, London, in their corporate and competition law division.

Gitte has been involved in a large number of high-profile anti-trust cases in Denmark and the EU, such as the Danish State's sale of shares in Ørsted to Goldman Sachs, ATP and PFA, and EY's acquisition of KPMG's Danish activities. She has vast experience specifically in M&A matters including representing clients in European and multi-jurisdictional merger notifications.

Another area of Gitte’s expertise is EU and Danish public procurement. She has assisted contracting authorities such as Sund & Bælt Holding in relation to the construction of the Femern Belt Fixed Link, as well as suppliers, in particular within the pharmaceutical sector, in relation to securing a positive outcome in several cases before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement.

Gitte has been an expert judge for the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and she is a member of the Danish Lawyers’ Association’s expert committee on Public Procurement law.

Highlights

• EY International - assisting EY before the national court and the European Court of Justice in relation to the groundbreaking "gun-jumping-case" following  EY's acquisition of KPMG's Danish activities
• Criminal law - ensured the acquittal before a Danish city court of a Danish wholesaler accused by the Public Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime of cartel activities (demand for fines as well as prison sentencing) 
• The Danish Ministry of Finance and Ørsted - the Danish State’s sale of shares in DONG Energy (Ørsted) to Goldman Sachs, ATP and PFA, and the subsequent IPO, including state aid issues and the merger notification of both transactions to the EU Commission
• Equinor Refining Norway (owned by the Norwegian state) - the acquisition of Danske Commodities notified to and cleared by the EU Commission
• Circle K (Statoil Fuel & Retail) - the acquisition of Dansk Shell, notified to and cleared in a phase II by the EU Commission and in the subsequent divestment sale of certain assets to DCC also cleared by the EU Commission
• DSV - Air Cargo and freight forwarding cartel cases
• Telenor - the contemplated merger with Telia in Denmark notified to the EU Commission 
• Nordic Capital - the sale of Unifeeder A/S to DP World notified to and cleared by the EU Commission
• The Danish Ministry of Finance and Danish Ministry of Culture – the contemplated (partly) privatisation of TV2
• Bonnier - assisting in the sale of 49.9 of the shares in the media company Dagbladet Børsen to the media company JP/Politikens Hus
• Sund & Bælt Holding - the construction of the Femern Belt Fixed Link
• The Copenhagen Metro - acting on behalf of a German and Danish consortium in a complaint before the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement in one of the largest construction contracts in Denmark

Bar Admissions

Appointed an expert member of the Danish Public Contracts Appeals Board (Klagenævnet for Udbud)

Member of the procurement law expert panel of the Association of Danish Law Firms (Danske Advokater) 

Association of Media and Entertainment Law

 

Danish Association for European Law

Danish Association for Competition Law

Education
2001 QLTT, BBP Law School, London2000 LL.M., University of Cambridge1999 Admitted to the Danish High Court1995 Admitted to the bar1991 Master of Laws, University of Copenhagen

Professional Activities and Experience
Accolades

• Samlet Chambers Legal500 WhosWho
• 2020 2021 2022 Legal 500
• 2022 Chambers Europe
• 2021 Chambers Europe
• 2020 Chambers Europe
• 2019 Legal 500
• 2019 Chambers Europe
• 2018 Legal 500
• 2018 Chambers Europe
• 2017 Legal 500
• 2017 Chambers Europe
• 2016 Legal 500
• 2016 Chambers Europe
• 2015 Chambers Europe
• 2014 Chambers Europe
• 2013 Legal 500
• 2013 Chambers Europe

• Leases Entered into Before the Construction of a Building did not Constitute a Contract Subject to Construction

  By Gitte Holtsø, Lise Asby Nielsen |May 2021

• The right to change preselected entities in open tendering

  By Gitte Holtsø |May 2016

Additional Articles"A Practical Guide to National Competition Rules Across Europe" (Danish Chapter)

"International IP Litigation" (Danish contributions)

"Franchise 2014 in 30 jurisdictions worldwide", Law Business Research Ltd (Danish Chapter)