Irish mergers and acquisitions soar to €20bn in the first half of 2021

Private equity funds, with access to unprecedented amounts of capital are seeking acquisition targets

Owen Curtin of Cork firm Healthcare 21 that was acquired by Swedish medtech company Addlife for €240m this year. Picture: Clare Keogh

The level of mergers and acquisition activity (M&A) in Ireland soared in the first half of this year with almost €20bn spent on more than 100 deals.

The figures represent a 33% rise on the same period in 2020 and most of any half-year period since 2006.