An increasing number of Irish companies are acquiring overseas firms, according to the latest survey on mergers and acquisitions from NCB corporate finance.

In the third quarter of this year, Irish companies recorded 33 foreign acquisitions compared to 28 in the second quarter. Among the deals completed were Ardagh Group’s acquisition of Anchor Glass Container Corporation, and acquisitions by such Irish plcs as United Drug, Smurfit Kappa, Kingspan and Glanbia.

Overall, mergers and acquisitions in Ireland increased in the first nine months of the year. Between January and September, 167 deals were announced, compared to 152 in the same period last year, representing a 10 per cent increase, though the number of deals was slightly lower on a quarter-by-quarter basis.The IT and telecoms sector saw the most activity in the third quarter of the year, accounting for a fifth of all transactions. The industrial sector was the second most active, accounting for 18 per cent of the total deal volume.