Ireland's mergers and acquisitions market slowed in the first half of 2023, in line with global deal activity.
The first six months of 2023 saw 177 deals involving Irish businesses, collectively worth just over €5.2 billion, which represents a minor decline of 2% year-on-year in volume but a more substantial -58% decrease by value.
M&A worldwide has reduced as rising interest rates, high inflation and fears of a recession have impacted confidence and made acquisitions more expensive.
The William Fry half year report shows that despite some positive macro-economic indicators and a resilient Irish economy, the M&A market has inevitably been impacted by the global slowdown.
The shape of Ireland's M&A market in the first half of the year was similar to previous years, with 97% of transactions falling into the mid-market segment; of the 51 first-half deals where the value was disclosed, 45 of them were valued at between €5m and €250m.
The top end of the market however was particularly quiet, with just three deals worth more than €500m announced during the first half.
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The biggest recorded deal of all saw Chiesi Farmaceutici agree to pay €1.34bn for Irish head-quartered Amryt Pharma, another sign of the influence of the international pharmaceutical sector on Irish M&A statistics in recent years.
The next largest deal was the recent sale of Enva, the waste management company, by one private equity house to another.
William Fry said, despite the various uncertainties it is safe to assume that we will see more healthcare and private equity deals as the year progresses.
