Value of Irish M&A market drops 35% as megadeals dry up
The value of Irish mergers and acquisitions declined by more than a third last year despite a slight uptick in deal volume, reflecting an absence of megadeals seen in prior years, according to William Fry.
The law firm's annual M&A Review shows there were 524 M&A deals in 2025, an increase of 3% year-on-year, but the aggregate value fell 35% or around €10.5bn to €19.5bn.
The drop aligns with the value of the 2024 acquisitions of a 49% stake in Intel's Fab 34 facility in Kildare by Apollo Global Management for €10.1bn, with mid-market activity remaining strong. Some 90% of deals were valued at between €5m and €250m.
Six in 10 (59%) deals involved overseas bidders, led by US and UK acquirers, while private equity accounted for 19% of all M&A activity during the year.
Andrew McIntyre, head of corporate and M&A at William Fry, said the market showed "clear resilience" despite a "challenging global backdrop".
"Over the longer term, both deal value and volume exceeded seven of the past ten years, underlining Ireland's attractiveness as a jurisdiction of choice for M&A activity," he continued.
"Even as global M&A activity fell to its lowest level in two decades amid trade tensions and geopolitical conflict, inbound investment into Ireland remained robust.”
Commenting on the outlook for M&A, he noted that: “Despite ongoing uncertainty, the foundations for Irish M&A in 2026 are positive. Lower interest rates, strong relative economic growth and sectoral strengths in Energy, Pharma & Biotech and advanced technologies such as AI all support dealmaking.
"While geopolitical risk and uncertainty around US trade policy remain key concerns, Irish assets continue to attract strategic and private equity interest. If global volatility begins to ease, we could see the Irish M&A pipeline open.”
In 2025, there were 12 large-cap deals valued at above €250m, down from 17 in 2024. Of the 12, nine exceeded €500m in value, although the value of several transactions was undisclosed.
The largest transaction of the year was Ardian’s €2.5bn acquisition of Energia Group, which supplies approximately 17% of Ireland’s electricity, increasingly generated from renewable and low-carbon sources.
The second-largest deal was the acquisition of pharmaceutical company Avadel by Irish biopharma group Alkermes, valued at up to €2.2bn.
The third-largest transaction took place in financial services, with Dubai Aerospace Enterprise agreeing to acquire Nordic Aviation Capital for €1.9bn, expanding its aircraft fleet to approximately 750.
Energy, mining & utilities was the largest sector by deal value, accounting for €4.84bn of transactions and a 25% share of the market.
Alongside the Energia acquisition, the sector was boosted by the €1bn purchase of the 500MW Greenlink Interconnector by UK-based Equitix and Norway’s Statkraft.
Pharma, medical & biotech ranked as the second-largest sector by value, buoyed by the Avadel-Alkermes transaction, but five of the top 10 deals of the year were also in the sector.
Ireland’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions and other sustainability goals have, continued to shape M&A activity. In 2025, Lirion Power acquired a portfolio of six onshore wind assets for €156m from Schroders Greencoat, with further wind and solar asset sales progressing during the year.
By deal volume, business services was the busiest sector in 2025, ahead of technology, media & telecoms (TMT) and financial services. TMT accounted for just 9% of total Irish M&A deal value compared with 56% in 2024.
There were 309 inbound deals for Irish companies worth a combined €14bn last year, a 9% increase in deal numbers, but a 47% decline in total value, as international investors focused increasingly on mid-market opportunities.
UK and US buyers remained the most active, but France emerged as the leading country by value, with French acquirers completing ten deals in Ireland, including Ardian’s €2.5bn acquisition of Energia Group.
Stephen Keogh, managing partner at William Fry.
The first half of the year marked the strongest period for Irish private equity investment since the pandemic, reflecting sustained appetite despite increasingly challenging global conditions.
While activity moderated in the second half following the market impact of 'Liberation Day', overall PE deal volumes still rose from 92 deals in 2024 to 100 in 2025, a 9% increase.
(Pic: Getty Images)
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