A record 240 deals for mergers and acquisitions, worth a total of €24.6bn, took place in the Irish market last year, according to the latest William Fry M&A Review, in association with Mergermarket.

The Irish M&A market grew 33% year-on-year and saw its highest volume of deals since 2006, with AIB's €4.1bn acquisition of Ulster Bank's commercial loan book the most valuable among them.

In all, there were 10 deals each worth more than €500m, collectively accounting for nearly three-quarters of the market with a combined value of €18.1bn, whereas there were only three such €500m+ transactions in 2020.

The mid-range was the most active part of the market, with 81% of all deals with a disclosed value worth between €5m and €250m, and most deals were agreed with foreign parties, with 172 M&A transactions accounting for €19.2bn.

All but three of the 20 largest deals in Ireland were inbound cross-border transactions, with US acquisitions making up seven of those 20 transactions and US-based buyers responsible for €13.2bn worth of deals.

In Association with

Although the volume of M&A transactions grew by a third in 2021, the value of the market more than doubled, increasing 132% year-on-year.

"Ireland’s economy bounced back remarkably strongly in 2021 from the Covid-19 disruption of the previous year," Stephen Keogh, William Fry's head of corporate M&A at William, said.

"This resurgence reflects both booming exports from the many multinational companies In Ireland and a very strong performance from the domestic economy, with consumer spending sharply up compared with 2020.

"Against this backdrop, the Irish M&A market built on the recovery that began in Q4 2020 and recorded a very busy 2021."

Private equity funded nine of the 20 largest deals in 2021, including two buyouts and seven exits.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's €3.4bn purchase of UDG Healthcare was the biggest private equity transaction of the year, while Eurozeo's sale of its stake in payments firm Advent was the largest exit.

Technology, media and telecoms was the most active sector, making up a 28% share of all 2021 transactions and four of the top 20 largest deals, but the financial services industry accounted for 29% of the total value of the M&A market last year, thanks in part to the Ulster Bank deal.

"Although it may be difficult to sustain the pace of deal-making seen in 2021 – which inevitably included some activity held over from the previous year – the economic backdrop remains supportive and there is good reason to expect another robust year of M&A activity in Ireland over 2022," Mr Keogh added.

"The country’s relative economic merits – including ease of access to EU markets and Ireland’s open, non-protectionist, economy – should outweigh any other concerns, even if Covid-19 developments are harder to anticipate."

(Pic: Getty Images)