Irish companies have been involved in fewer merger and acquisition (M&A) deals so far this year, London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said on Thursday, despite a notable increase in the value of transactions in the first nine of months of the year.
Deals involving a target company in the Republic soared to a six-year high in the nine months to the end of September to a total value of $20 billion (€18.11 billion).
Overall, transactions with any Irish involvement worth $36.8 million were completed in the first three quarters of 2024, the highest first nine-month value since 2021, LSEG said. Yet, the total number of deals fell 24 per cent compared with the same period last year, to the lowest level in four years.
Apollo Global Management’s $11 billion investment in a joint venture with Intel in the Republic remains the largest transaction of the year so far. In June, the private capital giant agreed to take a 49 per cent stake in a joint venture entity related to an under-construction manufacturing facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare.
“The deal is the largest with Irish involvement so far during 2024,” LSEG said. “With it, technology is the most targeted sector in Ireland by value so far this year, accounting for 74 per cent of overall activity.”
Intel subsequently started consultations with staff on voluntary redundancies at its Leixlip plant as the tech giant looks to shed jobs to cut costs by about €10 billion before the end of 2025. The figure was to be on top of previous cuts already announced by the firm, which has seen its market position slip markedly in recent years.
More recently, LSEG said the largest deal in the third quarter involving an Irish company was Flutter’s acquisition of Playtech’s Italian unit Snaitech for $2.6 billion.
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