Value of merger, acquisitions up 50%

New figures from corporate finance specialists, Ion Equity reveal that the value of merger and acquisitions involving Irish companies in the fourth quarter of 2004 was almost 50% greater than the value of such deals in the same period a year earlier.

In the last three months of 2004, deals worth a total of €3.7bn were announced compared to deals worth a total of €2.5 bn in the corresponding period in 2003.

The €3.7bn recorded in the period compares to deals worth a total of €1.6bn in the third quarter of 2004.

For the year as a whole, the Ion Equity survey shows that the value of M&A deals involving Irish companies was up 33% to €10.4bn.

The major deals in the fourth quarter included Danske Bank’s €1.4bn acquisition of National Australia Bank’s Irish operations; Tullow Oil’s €291m acquisition of North Sea oil and gas interests from Shell and Exxon Mobil; Barchester Healthcare’s €757m acquisition of Westminster Healthcare in the UK and IAWS’s €130m bolt-on acquisition of Groupe Hubert in France.