photo of Lauren O

Lauren O'Brien

Antitrust & Foreign Investment Managing Associate, London / Brussels

“I have practised competition law in Dublin, Brussels and London and have experience advising on all aspects, including merger control, behavioural matters and compliance. I advise clients across a range of sectors, including pharmaceutical and life sciences, technology, consumer goods and retail, financial services and energy.”

Overview

Professional experience

Education and qualifications

Overview

Lauren is a Managing Associate in the Antitrust & Foreign Investment group, based in London and Brussels. She has experience across a range of EU, UK and Irish competition law matters, including EU/UK/Irish and multijurisdictional merger control, behavioural matters and compliance. Lauren has worked in the London, Dublin and Brussels offices of Linklaters (and is now based in the firm's London and Brussels offices) and has wide ranging experience, including working on a number of large-scale transactional projects. Lauren completed a six-month secondment to the mergers team at the Competition and Markets Authority in 2018.

Work highlights
  • BP plc in relation to the sale of its petrochemicals business to INEOS Group;
  • Mitie Group plc in relation to its acquisition of Interservefm (Holdings) Ltd; 
  • Just Eat plc in relation to the CMA’s investigation into its acquisition by Takeaway.com N.V.;
  • Greene King plc in relation to its acquisition by CK Hutchinson Holdings Limited;
  • Sainsbury’s plc in relation to its £17bn attempted acquisition of Asda;
  • Amec Foster Wheeler plc on its £2.2bn acquisition by John Wood Group plc, which was successfully cleared in Phase 1 with remedies;
  • SABMiller plc in relation to its USD103bn acquisition by AB InBev.

Professional experience

Lauren qualified as a solicitor in Ireland and joined Linklaters in 2015 as an Associate in our Brussels Competition/Antitrust practice. In 2017 she relocated to the London office and in 2018 she was made up to Managing Associate.

Lauren spent six months seconded to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2018.

Lauren is involved with many pro-bono projects and is particularly proud of her work with Penal Reform International on a research report on the sentencing of women convicted of drug‑related offences.

Education and qualifications

Lauren holds a first-class Bachelor of Law and French degree from University College Cork and a Master of Laws Degree in European Legal Studies from the College of Europe, Bruges, where she won the award for the best thesis on an economic analysis of European law. Lauren also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics of Competition Law from Kings College, London.

Lauren speaks English, French and Irish.