Despite geopolitical uncertainties, Ireland’s mergers and acquisitions market showed remarkable resilience in 2025, with deal volume up by 11 per cent for the first three quarters, according to Renatus Capital Partners.
Some 365 deals were completed, compared to 329 during the same period in 2024.
For Katharine Byrne, head of deal advisory at BDO Ireland and a member of the BDO International M&A Group, the word that best sums up the market in 2025 is “robust”.
When you consider how much commentary there is around uncertainty in the economy, the impact of tariffs on business and the potential for increased interest rates, it’s surprising to see the number of deals that are still getting completed, especially in the mid-market, which can be hit very quickly by confidence. This only seems counterintuitive if you look no further than the headlines.
We’re dealing with companies that are outperforming their budgets and continuing to trade very well. There are also quite a lot of succession issues, where people are naturally availing of opportunities – with international buyers, local private equity and international private equity – to assess what their exit options are.
A significant chunk of the transactions that took place in 2025 were front loaded into Q1, she points out, with Q2 quieter and the pace only starting to pick up again in Q3.
It is anticipated that Q4 will be very, very active.
The other big factor is that the number of deals by local Irish private equity funds is continuing to increase too, which is great. On top of that we’re seeing some of the international funds establishing offices and funds here, which again demonstrates that Ireland is a very attractive place to invest. That is a combination of the way our economy is performing, as well as the fact that we have exceptional talent here that is very ambitious.
The ability of Irish companies to go global is increasingly well recognised internationally, she points out.
If there is another word to describe M&A activity in 2025 it is “consolidation”.
Where there is a fragmented industry there is an opportunity to consolidate and we’ve already seen that in some of the financial services, starting with insurance and moving into private wealth. We’re seeing it in accounting and now we are seeing it shift into more traditional businesses such as logistics, looking for synergies and efficiencies, as well as a better service for customers.
The trend towards consolidation is set to continue for 2026 and will also ripple through other sectors in which the Government is deploying capital; the priorities for Ireland Inc right now include healthcare, home retrofits and industrial decarbonisation.