Boom Year for M&A

The number of deals in Northern Ireland increased by more than a third while there was a moderate dip in the number of transactions in the Republic of Ireland last year, according to research from Experian.

The information services company has also revealed the most active advisers in both Northern Ireland and the Republic in 2012. In 2012 there were 52 deals in Northern Ireland according to Experian’s league tables of M&As. This is an increase of 36.7 per cent from 2011 and the highest number of deals since 2008.

The value of deals in NI more than doubled in 2012 to £1.1bn from £384m last year. Experian says Northern Ireland experienced a “boom year” as the area of the UK with the highest increase in both volume and value of deals. A fifth of the deals completed in NI took place within the information technology sector.

In contrast in the Republic of Ireland the number of deals completed fell by 4.2 per cent from 307 transactions in 2011 to 294. However the volume of deals increased from €28.3bn in 2011 to €28.6bn. The most active sector in the Republic was materials and equipment wholesale with just over a fifth of all transactions.

In Northern Ireland, the most active legal adviser was A&L Goodbody while Kirkland & Ellis topped the table in terms of value. Horwood & Holmes was named as the most active financial adviser with Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Guggenheim Securities jointly taking the top spot in terms of value.

A&L Goodbody also reach the top spot for most active legal adviser in the Republic of Ireland – both in terms of volume of deals and the value.

Davy Corporate Finance was the most active financial adviser based on the number of deals worked on and Goldman Sachs was the most active by value.