Irish merger and acquisitions (M&A) increased almost 5 per cent last year to 424 deals, defying the global trend, as technology transactions drove activity.
M&A globally declined by nearly 7 per cent, according a report from Davy, amid slow global growth and uncertainty resulting from a slew of elections, even as major central banks started to reduce official interest rates at pace amid cooling inflation.
The value of Irish deals slid 61 per cent in 2024 to €13 billion, with data for the year-earlier period skewed by Smurfit Kappa’s €18.7 billion agreement to merge with US cardboard box-making rival WestRock, Davy said. Stripping this transaction out, the value of Irish deals dropped 9.5 per cent, it added.
The biggest Irish-related deal of year was Paddy Power parent Flutter Entertainment’s €2.3 billion agreement to buy Italian gambling business Snaitech.
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The second-largest was Swedish private equity firm EQT’s move to buy a majority stake in AMCS, the Limerick-based waste and recycling management software company, in a transaction that puts a €2 billion value on the business.
US investment firm Starwood Capital’s acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Dublin Echelon Data Centres, valuing the business at about €1.6 billion, came in third on the list.
Madrid-based Cellnex, Europe’s largest telecom towers and infrastructure group, was behind the fourth-largest transaction when it agreed in March to sell its Irish unit for €971 million to Florida-based Phoenix Tower International, exiting the market after five years.
Fifth on the list was US private equity group Blackstone’s purchase in April of a controlling 50.7 per cent stake in data centre business Winthrop Technologies, which valued the Irish company at more than €800 million.
The slowdown in global M&A – with the value of deals declining 22.5 per cent in 2024 – occurred against the backdrop of subdued economic growth, geopolitical tension and a busy year on the elections front internationally. The International Monetary Fund estimates that the global economy grew by only 3.2 per cent last year, with advanced economies registering just 1.8 per cent expansion.
[ Recent deals shine spotlight on Ireland’s buoyant M&A marketOpens in new window ]
The Department of Finance estimates that the underlying Irish economy – measured as gross national income-star – grew by 4.9 per cent last year, but that it is likely to slow to 2.7 per cent in 2025.
“Moving into 2025, we are fortunate that the Irish macro picture is strong – although some headwinds have been recently flagged,” Davy said.
“Confidence levels across Irish companies and their capital providers are strong and we should see further positive impact from further reductions in the cost of capital in 2025. New dedicated Ireland-focused private equity funds will support activity with further capital deployment.”
Private equity-owned companies are active consolidators in a number of fragmented domestic economy sectors, including the insurance-broking and the accountancy sectors.
“We should also see continued consolidation activity in certain services sectors, including professional services in 2025, all of which should help sustain the current level of Irish M&A activity in the year ahead,” said Davy.
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Private equity firms are sitting on a war chest of about $2 trillion in unallocated capital, or what is known in the industry as dry powder, according to Deloitte. This cash pile has been accumulating since the last big global M&A blowout, in 2021, when volume peaked at $5.9 trillion, according to Dealogic. The following year, activity plummeted almost 40 per cent, and it’s been relatively subdued ever since.
Investment houses from Goldman Sachs to JP Morgan forecast that global M&A will rally this year, buoyed by US president-elect Donald Trump’s promise of less regulation, lower corporate taxes and a broadly pro-business stance – along with falling interest rates.
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