Sales of firms up 10% but value fell

The number of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals increased by 10% in the first nine months of 2012 but the value of the deals completed fell, the NCB Corporate Finance M&A Tracker Survey found.

A total of 167 deals were reported in the first three quarters, representing a 10% increase on the 152 deals completed in the same period last year.

Irish corporates investing abroad helped push up the number of deals completed in the third quarter, increasing to 33 from Q2’s 28 deals.