Irish merger and acquisitions (M&A) increased by 11 per cent on the year to 121 deals in the third quarter, outpacing global growth, as technology and financial services transactions drove activity, according to Davy.
M&A globally rose by 8.6 per cent, boosted as major central banks reduced official interest rates amid cooling inflation. Still, low global growth – with the International Monetary Fund forecasting 3.2 per cent expansion for 2024 – continues to keep dealmaking in check.
The value of Irish deals slid 69 per cent in the third quarter to €6.9 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.
The biggest Irish-related deal of the third quarter was Paddy Power parent Flutter Entertainment’s €2.3 billion agreement to buy Italian gambling business Sniatech.
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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.
Flutter was behind the third transaction on the table, the purchase of a 56 per cent stake in Brazil’s NSX Group that put a €570.6 million value on the target.
At-home diagnostics company LetsGetChecked’s €472 million purchase of US digital pharmacy and telehealth start-up Truepill took the fourth spot.
Meanwhile, Valeo Foods, which includes Jacobs, Batchelors, Odlums and Kelkin among its stable of brands, grabbled the fifth position with its €488 million acquisition of Slovakian biscuits and sweets maker IDC Holding.
[ Recent deals shine spotlight on Ireland’s buoyant M&A marketOpens in new window ]
Davy said that the volume of deals for the first nine months of the year totalled 318, up only marginally from 310 for the same period last year.
“We expect full-year deal volume to exceed 400 transactions and be at a similar level, or ahead of, 2023 deal volume,” the company said.
Dealmakers globally have predicted that activity – especially transformational deals – will slow in general in the fourth quarter amid uncertainty posed by the US general election, Reuters reported recently.
The biggest deal globally in the third quarter was confectionery giant Mars’s $36 billion (€33.3 billion) agreement to buy Pringles maker Kellanova.
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