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A&L Goodbody advised on nearly US$12bn of M&A deals in 2011
06.02.2012
A&L Goodbody advised on nearly US$12bn of M&A deals in 2011
Pictured: Mark Ward
Irish corporate law firm A&L Goodbody advised on 39 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) during 2011 with a total value of US$11.969bn, according to new data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
The firm said the data reveals that it advised on the most M&A transactions of all Irish law firms during the year.
Those transactions included Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ reverse takeover of Azur Pharma; IBM’s acquisition of Curam Software; the sale by Premier Foods of certain brands to Boyne Valley Group; Kennedy Wilson’s acquisition of Bank of Ireland Real Estate Investment Management; AIB’s acquisition of the deposit book of Anglo Irish Bank in Ireland and the UK; and Elan Corporation’s merger of Elan Drug Technologies with Alkermes.
“The Irish M&A market has showed improvement in terms of activity in 2011 compared to 2009 and 2010,” said Mark Ward, head of A&L Goodbody's M&A practice. “The most active sectors during the year were pharma/healthcare, financial services, ICT and food and drink. There continues to be a significant level of international interest in Ireland.”
"Merger notifications to the Irish Competition Authority in 2011 came from both trade and private equity (in a ratio of approx 4:1), representing a significant increase in trade to trade transactions,” said the firm’s head of EU and competition, Vincent Power. “The most prominent sectors to make merger notifications were food and drink as well as financial services.
“We anticipate similar activity for 2012 with the same sectors staying active," said Ward. "The overall market will continue to be challenging however there remains opportunities for domestic and international M&A activity.”