Experience

Stephen joined the firm in June 2023 and practises in the firm’s EU and Competition Group.

Stephen advises on all aspects of EU and Irish competition law (including merger control, vertical agreements, anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance and State aid) and general matters of EU law. Prior to joining the firm, Stephen worked as a senior legal advisor at the Hong Kong Competition Commission for 8 years, where he handled several precedent-setting pieces of competition litigation. He also spent 6 years  in private practice with leading UK and US firms in London, Brussels and Hong Kong. With this experience, Stephen brings an additional international best-practice perspective to the team.  Stephen was educated in Trinity College Dublin and the College of Europe in Bruges.

Since joining the firm, key highlights include advising:

  • NFP on its $13.4 billion acquisition by Aon plc;
  • Woolpert Inc. on its acquisition of Murphy Geospatial Group Limited;
  • Canada Life/Irish Life on the sale of a ‘backbook’ of insurance policies;
  • Kerry Co-Op on its €500 million acquisition of the dairy processing assets of Kerry PLC;
  • EQT on its acquisition of Constellation Cold Logistics;
  • EQT in its acquisition of Keywords Studios;
  • Brookfield Renewable Holdings SAS on its €6.1 billion acquisition of Neoen SA;
  • The subject of a confidential CCPC cartel investigation; and
  • The subject of a confidential European Commission cartel investigation.