Grant Saggers

Education

Master of philosophy in economics, Magdalene College, Cambridge University
Masters in economic science with Distinction, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Honours in economics with Distinction, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Bachelor of Science with Distinction, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Experience

Grant Saggers, head of NERA’s London office, specializes in competition economics in the context of high-value, complex disputes, where he has advised companies and regulators on competition matters for over 15 years in more than 100 assignments. Mr. Saggers’ clients describe him in international directories as “flexible, insightful, and authoritative” and commend his “strategic awareness,” “intellectual rigor,” and “eloquent manner.”

Mr. Saggers has led companies successfully through matters involving market investigations, merger clearance, state aid, competition enforcement, competition litigation, and abuse of dominance. He has particular expertise in financial services, health care, life sciences, and industrial products.

He has presented expert economic evidence, on the record, in over 25 hearings before competition authorities and has been retained as the named expert in several recent matters in the commercial courts. For example, in 2018, Mr. Saggers was instructed by the UK Government to provide expert evidence at the International Trade Commission in the high-profile dispute between Boeing and Bombardier.

Mr. Saggers has advised clients in matters before the European Commission, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA, and its predecessors), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), the High Court of England and Wales, and national competition authorities and courts. He has advised market-leading companies in CMA and FCA market studies and investigations into matters including: Aggregates, Cement, and Ready-Mix Concrete, Care Homes, Cash Savings, Children’s Social Care, Credit Cards, Funeral Services, Investment Consulting and Fiduciary Management, Payment Systems, Private Healthcare, Retail Banking, Retirement Income, Statutory Audit, and Wholesale Insurance Brokering.

Mr. Saggers has provided expert economic analysis to clients in several large merger notifications and interventions. He led the economic advice to University Hospitals of Birmingham in its merger with Heartlands Hospital to form the largest hospital system in Europe, the first NHS merger the CMA approved at Phase I on benefits. He has also advised on Bupa/CSH (CMA), McGraw Hill/Cengage (CMA), MMC/JLT (EC), Aon/Willis (EC, for intervenor), Steris/Cantel (US), AXA/Simplyhealth (CMA), Compagnie de Saint Gobain/Maxit (EC), MyTravel/Thomas Cook (EC), Yara/Kemira GrowHow (EC), INEOS/Kerling (EC), and Project Kangaroo (CC).

Mr. Saggers has acted as an expert economic advisor on abuse of dominance in matters including Glass, Industrial Products, Medical Devices, Mobile Handset Technology, Airline Travel Agents, Steel, Gound Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS), Polymers, Electricity Connections, Electricity Generation, and Bank Charges.

Mr. Saggers has advised on cartel and information exchange issues and damages in markets including: Construction Equipment, FOREX, Aviation Insurance Brokering, Network Sharing, Trucks, Groceries, Fertilizers, and Private Ophthalmologists.

Mr. Saggers has also supported public bodies and private companies on various state aid matters and Market Economy Operator Principle (MEOP) reports, including the Asset Protection Scheme, the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme, the restructuring of the Royal Mail, the funding of Ordnance Survey and UK Coal, the Bombardier ITC dispute, and the Paks II Nuclear Plant. Mr. Saggers has acted as a state aid expert in High Court litigation involving procurement disputes.

Mr. Saggers’ work has been recognized by clients and peers in leading industry publications and awards, including the Global Competition Review and Who’s Who Legal. In 2015, the Management Consulting Association named Mr. Saggers Strategy Consultant of the Year. In 2022, he was recognized as a Thought Leader in Competition by GCR.

The publications call out Mr. Saggers’ “in-depth expertise in the financial services sector” and name him the “go-to economist on any market study/investigation.” They also describe him as having an “outstanding set of advisory and consulting skills,” offering advice that is “continuously impressive and right on the mark.”

Mr. Saggers has three postgraduate degrees in economics. Prior to working in economic consultancy, he was a university lecturer in economics at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.