There was a sharp fall in the value of merger-and-acquisition (M&A) activity in Ireland in the first half of 2023, according to law firm William Fry.

The number of deals recorded in Ireland in the first six months of the year was 177 – a decline of only 2% compared with a year earlier – but the value of those deals was 58% lower at €5.2 billion.

The firm’s half-year review noted that 97% of the deals originated from the mid-market segment, which ranges from €5 million to €250 million in value.

International pressures

William Fry said that the Irish slump was in line with global trends, as rising interest rates, high inflation and fears of a recession had impacted confidence and made acquisitions more expensive.

Partner Stephen Keogh (pictured) said that, while Ireland’s economy continued to outperform its international peers, these international pressures were unlikely to lift in the very short term.

“On this basis, while we expect to see reasonably healthy levels of Irish M&A activity, the prospect of a significant uplift in the second half of the year looks limited,” he stated.

Keogh described the top end of the market as “particularly quiet”, with just three deals worth more than €500 million announced during the first half of the year.

Pharmaceutical deals

The biggest recorded deal saw Chiesi Farmaceutici agree to pay €1.34 billion for Irish head-quartered Amryt Pharma.

The next largest deal was the recent sale of Enva, the waste-management company, by one private-equity house to another.

The pharmaceuticals, medical and biotech (PMB) sector accounted for 28% of Irish M&A activity by value in the first half of the year, compared with just 2% during the same period last year.

Deals involving international firms buying Irish companies accounted for more than two-thirds of activity in the Irish market in the period – and 16 of the 20 largest deals were in this category.

These inbound transactions were worth just over €4 billion.

The value of deals involving domestic entities halved to €1.1 billion from €2.2 billion in the first half of 2022.