Shaun O’Shea, Partner and Head of Corporate, Commercial and M&A, and Yvonne O’Byrne, Partner, Corporate, Commercial and M&A, at Beauchamps, take a look at the M&A trends and outlook for the coming year.

The M&A outlook for 2025, both globally and in Ireland, is influenced by a combination of macroeconomic trends, sectoral shifts, and geopolitical factors.

Hence several key drivers are likely to shape the merger and acquisition landscape in 2025.

LOOKING BACK - M&A MARKET 2023 TO 2024

2023 was a resilient year for M&A activity in Ireland.

Whilst globally the M&A market saw a downturn in both deal value and deal volume, Ireland remained strong through 2023.

This was despite a challenging environment of rising interest rates, economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability and decreased valuations.

A slow start to M&A activity in 2024 gave way to an upswing in Q3.

European M&A activity continued to recover in Q3 2024 and is on its way to achieving 20% year-on-year growth in deal value and 11% growth in deal count[1], with deals gaining momentum alongside anticipated decreases in interest rates.

Closer to home, Experian reports[2] the bulk of Irish M&A in 2024 centered around small to midmarket transactions.

Active sectors included technology/TMT, pharma/life sciences, professional/business services and renewable energy.

Private equity activity continued to play a strong part in the market although common with the overall market, higher interest rates dampened deal enthusiasm and valuations.

Similar to previous years, Ireland remained an attractive target for overseas buyers and investors, with overseas acquirers (predominantly US and UK) bidders involved in a significant number of acquisitions in the mid-market and larger deals.

LOOKING AHEAD - OUTLOOK FOR M&A ACTIVITY IN 2025

Making predictions in the current environment is difficult but the global M&A market in 2025 is expected to continue to rebound, driven by economic stabilisation, ongoing technological advancements, and an increased emphasis on sustainability.

Conclusion of elections in the US, UK and Ireland should provide some certainty, although the impact on Ireland of the change of administration in the US is uncertain and will depend on how much of President Trump’s agenda will be enacted.

On the positive side, private equity is sitting on record levels of capital and the prospect of reducing interest rates will lead to lower costs of funds.

This together with a degree of pent-up demand should hopefully lead to a busy year for M&A in 2025.

In Ireland, M&A activity is likely to focus on technology, pharma, renewable energy, financial and business services and midmarket deals.

Private equity firms will continue to target Ireland’s SME market presenting opportunities for value creation, insights and collaboration between corporate and private equity dealmakers.

Ireland’s status as a European hub for tech companies should hopefully continue, as companies continue to invest in AI, cyber and data security.

Further, with the global push towards sustainability, Irish companies in the med-tech, clean-tech, pharma and green energy industries will become ripe targets for US and European companies looking to tap into the Irish market and enjoy Ireland’s strategic position within the EU post-Brexit.

If you have a query in relation to M&A or corporate transactions, please get in touch with Beauchamps Corporate, Commercial & M&A team.

[1] Q3 2024 Global M&A Report Pitchbook: Pitchbook’s Q3 2024 MA Report
[2] Experian’s MarketIQ Q3 MA Review: Experian’s MarketIQ: YTD 2024 — Q3 MA Review

• Shaun O’Shea, Partner and Head of Corporate, Commercial and M&A. s.oshea@beauchamps.ie
• Yvonne O’Byrne, Partner, Corporate, Commercial and M&A. y.obyrne@beauchamps.ie