Welcome to the first edition of Grant Thornton’s Deals Digest
Our 2025 outlook
As we build on the highlights and trends of 2024 (see more below), we’re looking ahead across this year and see some clear trends that will inform the deals landscape.
- The M&A market will continue to rebound.
- Private equity firms will continue to play a key role on both the buy side and sell side.
- Rate cuts, by both the Fed and ECB, will increase activity.
- Valuation gaps between buyer and seller expectations will persist as a major challenge.
- Technology, financial services and pharma will continue to be key industries.
- Likely challenges but equally opportunities for businesses with an Irish-US connection.
Building on success and strength
Our hands-on, proactive service delivery and strong network contributed to another successful year for our team and our clients. Meanwhile, changes within our global network are strengthening our offerings.
Trusted advice to a range of clients
- Our team advised on 69 deals worth over €2.7bn, across our Lead Advisory (M&A), Transaction Advisory Services and Debt Advisory services lines.
- Three in five deals involved cross-border transactions.
- Two in five deals involved private equity.
Wide recognition for our expertise
- We ranked #1 and/or #2 Financial Advisor in Experian quarterly league tables for Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.
- We ranked #2 in Q3 2024 Mergermarket M&A league tables.
- We were shortlisted for Financial Advisor of the Year for Ireland in the Mergermarket European M&A Awards 2024.
- We advised on Vita Actives’ sale of a majority stake to Dairygold, which won Finance Dublin Agribusiness M&A Deal of the Year.
Strength through our global network
- Appointment of Paul Prenter as Deal Advisory Partner in our Belfast office.
- Our joint venture with Grant Thornton Luxembourg Advisory, spearheaded by our Deal Advisory Partner Dara Kelly, further expands our Financial Service Advisory offering.
- Grant Thornton Ireland and Grant Thornton US, supported by New Mountain Capital, combine to create a multinational, multidisciplinary platform—unlocking significant opportunities to enhance our client services.
2024 market review: M&A and financing trends in Ireland
- High activity levels continue in technology and professional services.
- Technology industry highlights include Apollo Global Management investment in Intel’s Irish manufacturing facility Fab 34 and Starwood Capital’s investment in Echelon.
Financial and professional services consolidation in the market continues, especially in insurance and financial services.
Companies like Howden, PIB Group (Campion), Arachas, and NFP Ireland continue to acquire independent insurance businesses. Meanwhile, in financial services, Grant Thornton Ireland merged with Grant Thornton US, Azets merged with PKF, and Robert Nathans merged with MHA to form Baker Tilly Ireland.
We have already seen these trends continue into 2025.
2024 was a particularly active year for Irish private equity.
The Irish PE market continued to strengthen, with many Irish PE houses engaged in significant transactions, e.g., MML’s divestment of Kyte Powertech and Waterland’s investment in Bellew Electrical.
Irish businesses continued to attract significant investment from private equity, particularly from the UK, with notable deals including Exponent’s investment in Chanelle Pharma, Ethos Engineering, and Kingsbridge Healthcare Group.
Last year saw growing demand for refinancing, growth capital and acquisition funding, with more borrowers looking to test the market, seeking the best possible terms.
Lender appetite in commercial real estate varied. As expected, the market split between strong demand for newly constructed centrally located assets, and weaker demand for assets in lower quality locations – though alternative lenders offered broader options on the latter.
Lenders also showed strong demand for well-structured cash flow lending opportunities, supported by strong balance sheets and a favourable macro-outlook.
We observed some loosening in debt structures across commercial real estate and cash flow lending, led by developments in international markets. We expect this to become a feature locally over the coming year.
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