Bryan A SAN JUAN

Introduction

Bryan A San Juan is the head of Sarmiento Loriega Law Office’s antitrust and competition law practice. He co-heads other key practice areas, including M&As, energy, mining, banking and finance, ESG, IP and general commercial laws.

San Juan obtained his juris doctor in 2010 from the University of the Philippines College of Law (UP Law), finishing class valedictorian and cum laude. He attained his magister juris (LLM) degree in 2019 from the Faculty of Law of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom (Oxford), graduating with high honours. In Oxford, he studied EU/UK/US competition laws under the tutelage of world-renowned experts and was sent by Hertford College to Luxembourg to study the workings of the European Court of Justice.

As an antitrust and M&A partner, San Juan serves as counsel to conglomerates and innovative entities in highly concentrated markets in relation to their compliance with sections 14 and 15 of the Philippine Competition Act (PCA). Since the birth of the merger control regime, he has obtained PCA clearance for M&A with a combined transaction value now exceeding PHP400 billion (USD7.03 billion). His sought-after merger control advice includes pre-merger antitrust compliance, analysis of the applicable theories of competition harm, and creative remedies to minimise the risks of disapproval. In June 2022, San Juan served as a resource person to an international organisation based in Europe in its review of the Philippine merger control regime.

As an energy partner, San Juan leads the advisory work to a joint venture actively involved in extensive renewable energy (RE) projects and co-leads in advising global and regional funds investing in RE projects. He is also currently the lead counsel to three top-performing electric co-operatives in the country who are currently litigating before the Supreme Court on issues that may have far-reaching consequences in the energy industry.

San Juan is a professorial lecturer teaching civil and commercial laws at UP Law and the ASCOT College of Law.