Volume of Irish M&As down by 10%

The volume and value of merger and acquisition transactions in the Irish market fell year-on-year over the first nine months of this year, but Ireland still managed to increase its contribution to Europe-wide transactions.

Latest figures from international information services specialist Experian show that 203 transactions occurred in the Republic during the nine months to the end of September, just over 10% fewer than in the corresponding period in 2011.

In value terms, the nine months also saw an annualised fall — of over 5% — to €25.7bn.

That said, Ireland still managed to outperform much of Europe and contributed nearly 7% of the total value of deals done across the continent during the period in question, and represented approximately 3% of total volume.

“M&A has receded globally in the first nine months of the year and the Irish market has not been immune,” according to Fin O’Driscoll, managing director of Experian Ireland.

He added: “Still, a 5% fall in volume represents a strong performance given the current economic context — and the Republic has outperformed much of the UK and Europe so far this year. The figures at the top-end, where there was a welcome upturn in high value deal making, are also encouraging.”

A total of 24 large deals — incorporating transactions with a value of more than €120m — were carried out; four more than in the same period last year; but despite the increase in volume the aggregate value of large deals declined by nearly 2.2% to €23.8bn.

In both the mid-market (value deals of between €12m and €120m) and small deals (those transactions under €12m) categories, both deal volume and value fell.

Deal flow in the latter category fell from 48 transactions to 35, on a year-on-year basis, with combined value falling by nearly 6%. Mid market deal volume was down by 26%, to 40 announcements, with values down by nearly 34%.