McCann FitzGerald LLP

Managing Partner: Stephen Holst

Number of partners: 85

Number of lawyers: 396

Firm Overview:

With over 600 people, including almost 400 lawyers and professional staff, McCann FitzGerald LLP is one of Ireland’s premier law firms. We offer expert, forward-thinking legal counsel to clients in Ireland and internationally. The firm is a full-service firm, divided broadly into four main groupings of corporate, finance, disputes and real estate (including construction). We also operate industry sector and specialist practice groups which comprise professionals from different groupings.

Main Areas of Practice: 

Corporate: 

Partners 22, Consultants 1, Of Counsel 1, other lawyers 67

The corporate group has extensive experience in advising on corporate and commercial transactions including some of the most complex and innovative M&A transactions and equity offerings, often with a cross-border element.

■ Advised WestRock on combination with Smurfit Kappa to create Smurfit WestRock plc (NYSE) worth $25bn.

■ Advised Kerry Co-op on its €500m acquisition of Kerry Dairy Ireland from Kerry Group plc and related €1.75bn share redemption and exchange

■ Advised Bord na Móna on the launch of a new onshore wind energy joint venture with SSE Renewables through an investment of up to €1bn.

■ Advised AIB Group plc on €1.5bn directed share buybacks from the Irish Minister for Finance.

Contact: Stephen FitzSimons

Tel: +353 1 611 9117

Email: [email protected]

Finance: 

Partners 25, Consultants 1, Of Counsel 4, other lawyers 70

McCann FitzGerald LLP specialises in advising on innovative financing transactions and complex regulatory issues. Our client base encompasses financial institutions, both regulated and unregulated, as well as non-financial corporate and State counterparties. We provide high quality legal advice, adopting a solution-focused approach, across the full range of financial services activities, from corporate lending and treasury, derivatives, asset management and insurance to aircraft and other big-ticket asset financing, project and infrastructure financing and capital markets transactions.

■ Advised AerCap on its inaugural $500 million Sukuk issuance.

■ Advised SAS - Scandinavian Airlines on its restructuring proceedings and successful emergence from chapter 11 in the US and from Swedish company reorganization, concluding in the investment of USD 1.2 billion in reorganised SAS.

■ Acted for the initial purchasers on a USD2.75 billion green bond issue made by Smurfit Kappa Treasury Unlimited Company, its first USD bond issuance for a number of years.

■ Advised Deutsche Bank on €260m loan facilities to Archer Hotel Capital to acquire the five-star Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin.

■ Advised Intuit on its integration of a regulated open banking service (known under the EU Payment Services Directive 2 as ‘account information services’) into the Quickbooks accounting package, to be used by customers across the EU.

■ Advised AIB on its €500 million strategic residential development finance partnership with KKR backed Activate Capital.

Contact: Georgina O’Riordan

Tel: +353 1 607 1461

Email: [email protected]

Disputes: 

Partners 23, Consultants 4, Of Counsel 2, Other lawyers 66(Additional contentious expertise in the construction/ procurement/ infrastructure sector is captured in the Construction Group numbers below.)

The group advises on many of the major complex cases before the Irish Courts in the financial, corporate and state sectors and is often the first port of call for major corporates who find themselves in a dispute or who require advice on a matter that may become contentious.

■ Advising SMBC Aviation Capital, the world’s second largest aircraft lessor, in Commercial Court proceedings in which it seeks an indemnity from its insurers (16 different insurers across multiple jurisdictions, including Lloyds insurers).

■ Representing Pfizer in Commercial Court (Intellectual Property and Technology Division) patent proceedings by ModernaTX Inc. relating to Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, Comirnaty®.

■ Acted for ComReg in an important case which provided clarity under Irish law about the way in which a regulator can analyse data seized during a dawn raid while appropriately safeguarding the target entity’s privileged and irrelevant confidential information.

■ Advising tech unicorn Workhuman on all aspects of a complex shareholder dispute (media estimates value the claim at Stg£300m) before the Commercial Court involving FTSE-listed PE firm Intermediate Capital Group (ICG).

Contact: Michael Murphy

Tel: +353 1 611 9142

Email: [email protected]

Real Estate & Construction: 

Partners 15, Of Counsel 1, Other lawyers 54

Offering one of the largest real estate and construction offerings in the jurisdiction, the group is known for its integrated approach to complex transactions and projects. Covering the traditional acquisitions, disposals, lettings and finance deals, the Group also has huge experience on complex projects work, re-structuring, security and enforcement, tax-based deals and construction schemes, as well as construction disputes, for domestic and international companies.

■ Acted for Hammerson plc (a UK-listed REIT) in relation to the refinancing of the Dundrum Town Centre, with a reported asset value of over €1b.

■ Appointed by Lone Star to lead on the real estate and construction elements of the sale of its house-building operation in Ireland, which trades under the ‘Quintain Ireland’ brand and is the State’s third largest housebuilder.

■ Acted for Morgan Stanley and United Overseas Bank in financing the acquisition by Starwood Capital of a 50% stake in the Echelon Data Centres for a reported €850m.

■ Providing ongoing legal guidance to the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board regarding its development of the New Children's Hospital.

Contact: Donal O Raghallaigh

Tel: +353 1 607 1268

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Stephen Holst

Tel: +353 1 511 1517

Email: [email protected]

Offices: 

Principal Office, Ireland, Dublin

Belgium, Brussels

United Kingdom, London

United States, New York