In value and volume terms, the TMT sector continues to lead performance in Ireland’s M&A market.

While it is important to be cautious about the TMT data – noting the outsized influence of the Fab 34 deal as well as the decline in the sector’s share of total deal volumes – there is no doubt that investors and acquirers continue to take a keen interest in Irish businesses and TMT related infrastructure in this sector. Three of the five largest M&A transactions in Ireland during 2024 were in the TMT sector; overall, the sector saw 111 deals.

In practice, any slowing in TMT activity reflected global trends. In particular, a sell-off of US technology stocks in the late summer prompted some concern worldwide about elevated valuations in the sector. That gave investors pause for thought, though tech stocks subsequently bounced back – and TMT deals continued fairly robustly at a global level throughout the second half of the year.

In Ireland, meanwhile, the blockbuster deals at Fab 34 and Keyword Studios belied a more general trend towards M&A interest in areas of the technology sector geared towards the application of new tools in business and the broader economy. There is significant ongoing interest in Irish companies with intellectual property (IP) and skills in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation..

Looking at other significant sectors in the market, it is the business-to-business area of the Irish economy that continues to generate strong M&A activity. By volume, the business services sector accounted for 15% of Irish dealmaking during 2024, sustaining its share at a consistent level with 2023. Business services transactions included the €791m stake acquisition of Echelon Data Centres by Starwood Capital Group Management, for example, as well as a host of smaller deals. Pharmaceuticals, medical and biotech (PMB), with a 12% share of the M&A market by volume, was once again the third busiest sector.

In deal value terms, financial services finished 2024 in second place to TMT, accounting for 21% of the total market. That reflected, in part, the €4.1bn deal for Castlelake Aviation, but there were also two large transactions at AIB, where the Irish government continues to sell down the stake in the bank that it acquired during the global financial crisis 15 years ago. After selling shares in two tranches – in deals worth €999m and €500m respectively in March and August – the Irish government’s stake in AIB now stands at just over 18%, down from 71% at the beginning of 2022.

Elsewhere, business services was Ireland’s third most active sector for M&A by value during 2024, accounting for 5% of transactions compared to only 2% in the previous year. That largely reflected the impact of two deals: the Echelon Data Centres buyout and the combination of advisory business Grant Thornton Ireland with its US counterpart.

By contrast, in the PMB sector, while volume remained relatively strong, by value, deals in the sector were down from 13% of the market to just 4%. It should be noted that the sector saw the second largest M&A transaction in Ireland in 2023, the Chiesi Farmaceutici’s €1.3bn purchase of Amyrt Pharma. Last year, the biggest deal in the PMB sector – Macquarie Asset Management’s acquisition of Beacon Hospital – was valued at €400m.

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