Kate
McKenna
Partner
Kate is a partner in the Competition and Regulation Group.
Prior to joining Matheson, Kate worked at a Magic Circle law firm in London.
Kate’s competition practice involves advising clients on merger control, behavioural competition issues (including investigations of alleged collusion and abuse of dominance), State aid, the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, Foreign Investment Screening regimes & public procurement competition issues.
Kate’s regulatory practice involves advising clients on compliance with telecommunications, broadcasting, digital markets, Life Sciences and postal regulation. Kate frequently advises clients on challenging decisions by sector regulators.
Kate has advised on numerous notable regulatory processes and court cases and so clients turn to Kate for expert advice on defending their interests and for practical solutions which achieve their commercial objectives.
Kate contributes articles to leading international legal publications and speaks regularly on competition and regulatory law issues.
Experience and Education
Recent matters on which Kate has led and advised include:
Telecoms, Media & Digital Regulation
- Advising on regulatory approvals for Irish telecoms M&A deals, including multiple transactions involving Three Ireland, Speed Fibre Group, NBI, and eir.
- Advising Mediahuis on M&A deals, including the only ever Phase 2 media merger review.
- Advising Daily Mail on M&A deals and on general competition law issues.
- Advising on High Court challenges of telecoms regulatory decisions by the Irish regulator, ComReg, including acting for Three Ireland, Sky Ireland and Vodafone Ireland.
- Advising on High Court challenges of decisions by Dublin Airport’s regulator, the Irish Aviation Authority.
- Advising on issues related to the EU Digital Markets Act and other EU rules for the Digital Sector.
Competition Approval / Merger Control
- Advising Smurfit Kappa Group on obtaining competition approvals across the globe, including from the EU Commission, for its merger into Smurfit WestRock.
- Advising Macquarie Asset Management on obtaining competition approval for its acquisition of the Beacon Hospital in Dublin
- Advising Bank of Ireland on obtaining competition approval for its acquisition of the assets of KBC Ireland, subject to remedies, following a Phase 2 process before the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)
- Advising AIB on obtaining competition approval for the formation, in cooperation with its competitors, of the Yippay payments joint venture, subject to remedies following a Phase 2 CCPC process.
- Advising Orpea on obtaining competition approval, subject to remedies at Phase 1, for a series of acquisitions of nursing home businesses across Ireland.
Competition Investigations
- Advising on inspections by the EU Commission and the CCPC in Ireland, including a 2024 EU inspection of a data centre construction business and a 2017 EU inspection of an insurance business and Irish inspection of a private home.
- Advising Brokers Ireland on the CCPC investigation into the private motor insurance sector, which lasted from 2016 to 2021 and involved witness summonses and extensive information requests.
- Advising on identifying and mitigating risk, in the context of actual and potential competition authority inspections and investigations, including through making immunity / leniency applications on behalf of clients and through introducing corrective compliance measures.
Competition Litigation
- Acting in defence of a follow-on action for damages arising from the European Commission’s decision in the ‘Trucks’ case.
State Aid
- Advising the Irish Government on the obtaining State aid approval for its Renewable energy subsidy schemes.
- Advising on making State aid complaints and defending numerous high-profile State aid investigations by the EU Commission.
- Trinity College Dublin (LLB, First Class Honours)
- BPP Law School London (Legal Practice Course, Distinction)
