Record mergers and acquisitions in second quarter

The second quarter of 2006 was one of the most active for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving Irish companies, both in terms of the value and number of deals, the second quarter M&A Tracker survey by corporate finance firm Ion Equity revealed today.

According to figures compiled by Ion, the value of deals completed in the second quarter more than doubled from €1.8bn in the second quarter of 2005 to almost €4.2bn, while the number of deals also more than doubled from 36 to 77.

“The Babcock & Brown acquisition of Eircom certainly boosted deal values in second quarter of 2006 especially when there was no similar ‘mega deal’ in the same period last year,” said Ion Equity Director Joe Devine.

“But even when the Eircom deal is excluded there was still a very healthy increase in deal values. The huge increase in the value of deals in the second quarter of 2006 also shows that M&A activity in Ireland remains exceptionally buoyant.”

Mr Devine added that while the current unrest in the Middle East has impacted on economic forecasts and on world oil markets, volatility in global equity markets does not appear to be impacting negatively on merger and acquisition activity either at home or internationally.

Construction materials group CRH remained one of Ireland’s most active buyers and revealed more than €800m worth of acquisitions in the second quarter of the year.

Other major deals in the construction sector included French group Saint Gobain’s €109m acquisition of the J.P. Corry Group and Kingspan’s €87m acquisition of the Xtratherm Group.

Media was once again an active M&A sector in the second quarter with private equity group Doughty Hanson’s €265m acquisition of Can-West’s interest in TV3 and the Connacht Tribune’s €15m acquisition of a 73% stake in the Galway Bay FM radio station.

The biggest deal in the technology sector was Getty Images’s €110m acquisition of the Kerry photographic group Stockbyte.

Activity in the support services sector was marked by three deals involving Irish estate agents – the €50m acquisition of Hamilton Osborne King by Savills, Colliers CRE’s acquisition of Colliers Jackson Stops for €4.8m and Gunne Financial Services’ acquisition of Gunne Residential for €7m.