Expertise
Competition & Antitrust
Our Competition & Antitrust team offers tailored advice and support to our clients sophisticated needs in this complex area.
Our internationally recognised market-leading team has been centrally involved in establishing new precedent in Irish competition law, having acted in a number of the most recent in-depth (Phase II) investigations by the Irish Competition Commission. We also advised the purchaser on each of the first three ‘media mergers’ notified under the new Irish media merger regime. Our team regularly advises Government, first movers and new entrants on creating new markets in energy, broadcasting and telecoms.
We recognise that increasing regulation, EU mandates and standard harmonization creates an additional burden for business and we understand how competition regulatory processes can raise the cost of doing business. Our goal is to minimise the impact on our clients’ business.
This is an experienced team with diverse backgrounds. Our partners have previously worked with leading Competition/Antitrust practices in both the UK and in Brussels.
Our Services
We frequently advise on:
- Merger notifications under the Irish Competition Acts 2002-2014
- EU merger notifications
- Cartel investigations and immunity and leniency applications
- Competition compliance programmes and dawn raids
- Joint ventures and strategic alliances
- State aid
Recommendations
Legal 500, 2021
Tier one ranked team which is praised by clients for providing “excellent client service and strategic advice”.
Chambers & Partners, 2020
The team is "responsive and effective".
Recent Work
- Advising Virgin Media, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Global, on its acquisition of UTV Ireland from ITV plc.
- Advising Valero Energy in connection with the proposed acquisition by Topaz of Esso Ireland (Phase II).
- Advising McKesson in connection with its acquisition of the pharmaceutical distribution business of Irish FTSE 250 company, UDG Healthcare.
