Marco Hickey is a partner in the M&A / Corporate practice and Head of the Byrne Wallace Shields LLP Competition, Antitrust and Foreign Investment Regulation team. 

Marco is a highly experienced competition and M&A/corporate lawyer having practiced in both areas for many years. His experience as an M&A lawyer greatly benefits his competition practice as it gives him the unique ability to understand the wider transactional context in which the competition advice is being given.  

Marco has advised on many significant corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions and complex restructurings. He has acted for many large domestic and international corporations, private equity firms, entrepreneurs, investment managers and management teams (MBOs and MBIs). 

Dr Marco Hickey SC has considerable experience in EU and competition law (antitrust) including merger control, State aid, Foreign Direct Investment screening of third country transactions, EU customs and trade law and EU Block Exemptions Regulations. Marco is an acknowledged expert in Irish competition law and has acted in some of the most significant complaints and merger reviews conducted under the Irish Competition Act. He has written extensively on the topic of EU, Competition and Regulated Markets and is the author of "Merger Control" which was published by the Thomson Reuters group in May 2013. This is the only book to date devoted exclusively to the competition law implications of mergers and acquisitions in Ireland. He has published many articles and is often asked to comment on competition law issues and developments in publications such as the Sunday Business Post, Irish Times, Irish Independent and Sunday Independent. Marco’s PhD thesis was in competition law. Marco is very much a solution-oriented lawyer focussed on practical ways of achieving the desired commercial outcome and confines his academic analysis to situations where this type of input is required to achieve the desired result.

Marco has extensive knowledge in the area of EU State aid law. Marco has advised on many aspects of the EU State aid rules including the following:

• The application of the de minimis State aid rules generally and for SGEIs;
• Analysing whether a proposed measure amounts to EU State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the TFEU taking account of EU case law developments where the trend is to widen the meaning of the EU State aid rules and the Commission Notice on the notion of State aid;
• The question of whether an organisation/activity involves acting as an “undertaking” for EU State aid purposes and therefore whether they are capable of being an aid beneficiary;
• The imputability of actions to the State and the question of whether or not State resources are involved to attract the EU State aid rules;
• The concept of advantage including the Market Economy Operator test and selective advantage including selectivity in relation to tax measures;
• The EU State aid Block Exemption Regulation including regional aid, aid to SMEs, aid for access to finance for SMEs, aid for research and development and innovation,  training aid, aid for disadvantaged workers and for workers with disabilities, aid for environmental protection, aid for broadband infrastructures, aid for culture and heritage conservation, aid for sport and multifunctional recreational infrastructures, aid for local infrastructures, aid for regional airports and aid for ports;
• Informal request for guidance as to whether a measure gives rise to State aid;
• The notification of new aid and the grant of approval under Article 107(3); and
• Enforcement of State aid rules by national courts.

Marco was the winner of the Client Choice Award for 2015.

Marco has been with the firm since 2000. He he practiced in the Brussels office of Squire Patton Boggs and the London office of Clifford Chance and then with another leading firm in Dublin.

Marco is recognised as a Leading Individual for EU and Competition by Legal 500 2024 and is ranked in Who’s Who Legal Competition 2024.

In July 2024, the Irish government, on the advice of the Advisory Committee (the members are the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the President of the Court of Appeal, the President of the High Court, the Attorney General, the Chair of the Bar Council, the President of the Law Society and a nominee of the Minister for Justice) granted Marco a Patent of Precedence entitling him to use the title Senior Counsel. The above was granted on the basis of Marco’s specialist knowledge in the area of EU and competition law.

Experience

Corporate

• Acted for the sellers of a software company in relation to a sale to a UK plc.
• Advised Gardiner Group Limited in relation to the disposal of various businesses.
• Acted for the shareholders of an IT company sold to a large US group.
• Acted for the sellers of a recruitment business.
• Acted for a large international media group in relation to the purchase of a regional newspaper and associated business in Ireland.
• Acted for DEAG Deutsche Entertainment AG/Kilimanjaro group, the leading entertainment service group and provider of entertainment, on various transactions.
• Acted for Reach plc, the largest commercial national and regional news publisher in the UK, on the purchase from INM of the remaining 50% stake in Independent Star Limited, which publishes the Irish Daily Star.
• Advised Reach plc, the largest publisher of national and local newspapers in the UK, on the Irish aspects of its acquisition of certain parts of the business of Northern & Shell group.
• Acted for the sellers of the issued share capital of Automatic Plastics Limited to Comar in the US whose principal owners are investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. 
• Advised CVS (UK) Limited in its acquisition of a number of veterinary practices in Ireland.
• Acted for an unregulated Irish Holding company in connection with its acquisition of the entire issued share capital of an existing MiFID regulated Irish-based asset management company.
• Advised the trustees of a major pension fund in a complex transaction that involved the client completing an equity investment in an ICAV to enable it to purchase a Delaware investment structure holding real estate in Ireland.
• Acted for a leading global manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment, in relation to the disposal of the equity stake in a medical distribution company.
• Advised in relation to a transaction between two significant multinational parents of a joint venture in Ireland. 
• Acted for the sellers of a very large forestry fund.
• Acted for the sellers of a cosmetic distribution company which has a portfolio of significant skincare brands known globally.
• Acted on the restructuring of a substantial fund created from the proceeds of the sale of businesses involving well known global brands.
• Acted on the restructuring of a large US multinational active in the life sciences sector with a significant manufacturing presence in Ireland.
• Acted for a large US multinational energy company in regard to the divestiture of an Irish business. This involved coordinating between the Irish and US operations and a complex restructuring process.
• Acted for a well-known international financial services company in relation to various funding rounds.

Competition/State aid

• Provided competition advice to a multi-disciplinary professional services firm in relation to the purchase of an IT company.
• Provided competition advice to Universal Motors/Gowan Group on the acquisition of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Ireland DAC.
• Acted in some of the first notifications made under the Irish Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023.
• Advised Scania on its Irish legal proceedings that followed on from the Commission’s finding of infringement against MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF, as well as the subsequent, and more recent, finding against Scania AB.
• Advised Fane Valley on the EU and UK merger control implication of the disposal by Fane Valley of a 50% interest in Linden Foods Limited and Slaney Foods International to the ABP Food Group (“ABP”), a leading global food processor.
• Advised Denis O’Brien on the competition law aspects of the sale of the Communicorp group to the Bauer group, one of the largest radio and publishing businesses in Europe. 
• Acted for Boylesports in preparing a CCPC notification in relation to the proposed acquisition by Boylesports 2 Unlimited Company of sole control of Tully Bookmakers Management Limited.
• Advised a major Irish company in relation to the State aid aspects of a proposed Government measure.
• Advised in relation to a State aid complaint relating to NAMA.
• Provided State aid advice to RASA in the context of litigation against Aer Lingus.
• Advised a leading distributor of industrial tools in the context of the collection of anti-dumping duties. The project involved analysing and making detailed submissions on a wide range of complex principles of Irish and EU law.
• Advised Reach plc in its acquisition of certain assets of Northern & Shell. This was the only Phase 2 merger review carried out by the CCPC in 2018 which involved remedies. The transaction, being a media merger, involved notification to both the CCPC and the Minister of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
• The firm advised SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc., a leading global provider of software products and software-enabled services to the financial services sector, in its significant global acquisition of certain assets of DST Systems, Inc, a major provider of technology-based information processing and servicing solutions. The case involved notification of the transaction to the CCPC. The transaction was approved by the CCPC in Phase 1.
• Advised the seller, Topaz Investments Limited, on the competition law aspects of the sale of Topaz Energy Group Limited, Resource Property Investment Fund plc and Esso Ireland Limited to Alimentation Couche-Tard of Canada. This was approved by the EU Commission under the EU Merger Control Regulation.
• Advised Kendrick Investments on the competition aspects of the acquisition of Topaz, Ireland’s largest fuel and convenience brand. The transaction was notified to, and cleared by, the EU Commission under the EU Merger Control Regulation.
• Acted for Communicorp Group Limited in the competition law aspects of the acquisition of Today FM, FM104 and Highland Radio.
• Advised the French multinational Veolia SA, on the competition law aspects of the sale of its Irish operations to Greenstar. The transaction involved a merger of two of the largest players in the commercial and industrial waste sector in Ireland. The merger was cleared unconditionally after a Phase 2 review.
• Advised News Corporation on the Irish competition law aspects of its US$5.3 billion acquisition of Dow Jones (the target business included the Wall Street Journal). The transaction was cleared following a Phase 1 review.
• Advised the French multinational Egis Group on the EU Merger Control implications of the acquisition of certain Irish assets from a subsidiary of NTR, the international renewable energy group.
• The firm was involved in an innovative move in Irish competition law circles when it acted for the plaintiffs Leanort Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Ltd and Hytherm Ltd in the first-ever case before the Irish Courts in which an interlocutory injunction was granted to prohibit a breach of European competition law rules.
• Marco has considerable experience on the interaction between competition law and examinership. For example, he advised on the acquisition by Tedcastles Oil Products Limited (Top Oil) of Fate Park Limited in the context of examinership proceedings before the Irish High Court. The complex acquisition was carried out under a scheme of arrangement and was cleared following a Phase 1 investigation.
• Acted for the management team of Elverys Sports in relation to the competition law aspects of a buy out of the business.
• Acted for Millstreet Equestrian Services in a complaint against Show Jumping Ireland alleging infringement of EU and Irish competition law. The resulting investigation by Irish authorities was closed following material amendments to the Rules of Show Jumping Ireland.
• Acted for Newstalk regarding complaints against state broadcaster RTÉ concerning a breach of State Aid and general competition rules.
• Advised Baycliffe Limited, an investment vehicle, on the competition law aspects in relation to the joint acquisition of Blue Ocean Associates, a British oil trader with a turnover of more than €5.1 billion, along with Trafigura Beheer BV the Dutch multinational commodity trading company. The concentration was notified to, and cleared by, the EU Commission under the EU Merger Regulation.
• The team advised the Gowan Group in regard to the acquisition of the exclusive distributor of Opel branded motor vehicles in Ireland.
• The team advised the buyer on its acquisition of the MSL Motor Group’s Volkswagen dealership in Dublin.

Qualifications 

• LL.B, Trinity College, Dublin,1987
• Called to the Irish Bar, Bar Council of Ireland, 1989
• Admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales, Law Society of England & Wales, 1997
• Admitted as a Solicitor in Ireland, Law Society of Ireland, 1998
• Admitted as a Solicitor in Northern Ireland, Law Society of Northern Ireland,2003
• Ph.D, Trinity College Dublin, 2023
• Senior Counsel - Grant of Patent of Precedence, Irish Government, 2024

Recommendations

‘Marco Hickey has unparalleled knowledge and combines this with an astute read of the commercial situation.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2025

‘Marco Hickey and the team have a depth of knowledge and an ability to break down the most complex of activities into simple and easy to understand options and this sets them apart from others.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2025

‘Marco is incredibly personable and so easy to work with as a client.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2025

‘Marco Hickey - an expert in this area and also hugely respected by members of the competition authority.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2025

‘Marco Hickey leads the team. Marco is one of the most seasoned and respected competition lawyers in Ireland. He quickly grasps the key commercial issues in complex regulatory cases and deals with client and regulators in a professional and efficient manner.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2025

‘Marco Hickey has been our adviser on a number of competition and merger matters. While being extremely thorough and technically very able, he has also been very practical and commercial in his advice on some complex issues - he has a strong grasp of his subject matter, which provides comfort on sometimes uncertain terrain. We value his insights and approach highly.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2025

'Marco Hickey is clearly very intelligent. You feel like you are in the hands of an expert when you are working with him.' - Chambers Europe 2025

'Marco Hickey is good to deal with, detail-oriented and gets to the real issues quickly.' - Chambers Europe 2025

'Marco Hickey is extremely knowledgeable and an expert in the space. We have a lot of confidence in his work.' - Chambers Europe 2025

'Marco Hickey displays a great level of expertise and knowledge of the merger control landscape, as well as commerciality.' - Chambers Europe 2025

‘Marco Hickey’s level of responsiveness, willingness to problem solve and approachability are all key strengths. ’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2024 

‘Marco Hickey is very commercial in his approach and handholds his client through what can be an arduous process.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2024 

‘Marco Hickey – a real authority on antitrust matters in Ireland.’ Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2024 

“Marco's technical knowledge and willingness to find solutions for clients is strong.” Recommended for Competition/European Law. - Chambers Europe 2024

“He's very good, very cooperative, flexible and responsive. He's able to jump on calls really quickly and we're very happy with his responses.” Recommended for Competition/European Law. - Chambers Europe 2024

“He gave us excellent guidance and support on competition law. He was very reassuring, and accurate in outlining what eventually came to pass.” Recommended for Competition/European Law. - Chambers Europe 2024

Recognised as world’s leading practitioners in the Who's Who Legal. Recommended for Competition Law. - Who's Who Legal 2023

‘Marco Hickey is someone who you easily trust with the most complex deal, that he will carry safely over the line making it look easy.’ Recommended as 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2023

‘Marco Hickey is a top drawer competition lawyer who has a good working relationship with the CCPC, but who is not afraid to stick up for his client.’ Recommended as 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2023

"He is very good at working with our team to understand our business and our key drivers and to analyse the market dimensions correctly and to arrive at a good conclusion." Recommended for Competition/European Law. - Chambers Europe 2023

"Our contact is Marco Hickey, who is probably Ireland’s most knowledgeable merger expert and one of the most knowledgeable in any jurisdiction that I ever met. To boot, he has outstanding tactical skills, which benefit our clients from the very first day of a planned transaction." Recommended as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2022

Recommended as a 'Leading Individual' - Legal 500 2022

"Marco Hickey has excellent knowledge of competition law matters; however, he is also very commercial and understood the sensitivities in relation to managing challenging expectations against strategic implications." Recommended for Competition. - Chambers Europe 2022

Recommended as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2021

"His analytical skills are exceptional, and his pragmatism ensures the highly efficient implementation of his advice." - Chambers Europe 2021

'Marco Hickey has great commercial awareness combined with a first-rate competition brain.' Ranked as a 'Leading Individual' for EU and Competition. - Legal 500 2020

Listed as a leading individual for Competition/European Law and described as "smart, confident and relentless ... experienced in creating a mutually acceptable accord in contract negotiations." - Chambers Europe 2020

Practice head Marco Hickey, who has 'great understanding of deal dynamics and is not afraid to fight for his client when he needs to' is listed as a Leading Individual. - Legal 500 2019

Clients report: "He has a very good knowledge of competition law," and additionally appreciate "his understanding of our industry and the way he works with the competition authority." Recommended for Competition/European Law. - Chambers Europe 2019

Recognised as being among the world’s leading Competition lawyers - Who's Who Legal 2019

Recommended by Best Lawyers in Ireland for Competition Law. - Best Lawyers 2018

The ‘very responsive’ Marco Hickey is listed as a Leading Individual. - Legal 500 2018

"Knowledgeable and skilled in his area and very efficient and effective to work with" Recommended for Competition/European Law. -Chambers Europe 2018

Clients praise him for his "intellectual depth and mental agility to quickly understand difficult concepts". He draws particular praise for "his depth and experience of merger notifications." - Chambers Europe 2017

Recommended by Best Lawyers in Ireland for Competition Law. - Best Lawyers 2017

Recommended for Competition/European Law. - Chambers Europe 2016

Marco Hickey is ‘a recognised expert’, and ‘a go-to competition lawyer in Dublin’. Listed as a Leading Individual. - Legal 500 2016

Recommended for Competition. - Global Competition Review 2016

Recommended by Best Lawyers in Ireland for Competition Law. - Best Lawyers 2016

Winner - Competition & Antitrust (Ireland). - Client Choice Awards, 2015

Recommended for Competition/European Law. - Chambers Europe 2015

Marco Hickey ‘has emerged as a leading merger expert in Dublin’. - Legal 500, 2015

Marco Hickey is ‘first class. In ten minutes he will have 90% of the answer, and he’ll be right’; ‘on EU law, there is no-one better in Ireland’. -The Legal 500, 2014

Marco Hickey is valued by clients for the way he 'understands how a transaction is put together and financed. His transactional background is a big advantage'. - Chambers Europe 2013

Marco Hickey has “one of the acutest competition minds in Dublin”. - The Legal 500, 2013

Highly recommended for corporate and M&A and EU and competition. - Legal Experts Europe, Middle East & Africa 2012

Recognised as leading individual for Competition.- Chambers Europe 2012

Recommended for competition/anti-trust.- PLC Which Lawyer? 2011

Highly recommended for corporate and M&A and EU and competition in Legal Experts Europe. - Middle East & Africa 2011

Marco Hickey is clear in his thinking and always delivers. - The Legal 500 2011

Marco Hickey is a great commercial operator. Recommended for competition/European law. - Chambers Europe 2011