There was a significant rise in deal value, from €45.3bn in 2014 to €189bn in 2015, despite a drop in deal volume, from 120 in 2014 to 104 in 2015. 

These figures include Pfizer’s acquisition of Allergan announced in November 2015, which was worth €172.6bn, and Medtronic’s acquisition of Covidien in 2014, which was worth €33.9bn. Excluding these deals, Ireland’s M&A sector still recorded a significant increase, with value up 41% on 2014, from €11.4bn to €16.1bn.

Three highlights from the annual Irish M&A Review include:

• Outbound deals account for 50% of transactions: The most notable trend in 2015 is that half of all transactions with an Irish element were outbound, the highest on record for Irish businesses making overseas acquisitions and higher than recorded in other countries such as France (31%); Germany (29%) and the UK (29%).
• Availability of affordable finance: In large part due to the European Central Bank’s €1.1tn quantitative easing programme, bank borrowing remained readily available and affordable as a source of finance. Ireland also continues to attract capital from debt financiers and private equity sources.
• TMT sector dominates: A number of key sectors saw strong year-on-year activity by volume, including Telecoms, Media & Technology (29%), Business Services (13%), Leisure (13%) and Pharmaceuticals, Medical and Biotech (12%).

Mergermarket's Irish M&A Review is published in partnership with William Fry.

To hear more Irish M&A tend analysis, check out the Deal Drivers Ireland Forum on 14 September in Dublin. Click here to find out more and how to book your place