A total value of €9.1bn was recorded in Irish merger and acquisitions in 2020, a 14% increase on 2019, according to new figures from William Fry.
The law firm's latest M&A review shows that 169 deals were recorded, with the volume remaining consistent.
The figures reveal that the final quarter of the year registered €5.3bn in activity, more than the previous three quarters combined.
Stephen Keogh, Head of Corporate M&A at William Fry, described the figures as "impressive" when compared internationally.
"In contrast to Ireland, overall European deal volume fell 17% over the same period, and value ticked up by a modest 3% to €739.4bn," he said.
According to the figures the mid-market continues to fuel the Irish M&A market.
A total of 60 mid-market deals (€5m-€250m) were announced in 2020, which despite registering a 9% drop in volume compared to the previous year, still accounted for 85% of deals with a disclosed deal value.
11 deals worth €250m or more were announced in 2020, worth a combined value of €6.3bn.
By comparison, only four deals within this price bracket were announced in both 2018 and 2019.
The report shows that the technology, media, and telecoms sector continued to attract the lion's share of Irish M&A in 2020, both in terms of volume and value accounting for 25% of total volume and 22% of value, while attracting three of the top ten deals of the year.
The largest TMT deal of the year was CK Hutchison’s €600m proposed sale of mobile operator Three Ireland to telco infrastructure firm Cellnex.
Activity within the health and life sciences sector also resulted in a series of high-profile deals in 2020, according to the report.
A total of €1.3bn worth of deals were announced within the sector, more than seven times the total in 2019.
The largest transaction of the sector in 2020 was Swiss pharma firm Roche's €380m acquisition of biotech startup Inflazome.
All the top 20 deals of the year were inbound cross border transactions.
Overall, there were 121 inbound transactions worth €8.8bn announced across the year, a 6% rise in volume and a 16% rise in value on the previous year.
