The number of Irish-centred M&A deals which are notified to Brussels could decline sharply after Brexit because they will lack sufficient EU turnover, A&L Goodbody has said.

The firm is among those which have published an annual review of M&A transactions notified to Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

Dr Vincent Power, partner and head of EU and competition at A&L Goodbody, said it was “too early to see a definite pattern because of Brexit”, but some implications were “becoming clearer”.

He said: “First, if the UK leaves the EU and there is no special deal done on merger control then far fewer Irish-centred M&A deals will be notified to Brussels because these deals will often lack sufficient EU turnover – at present, the UK-related turnover counts as EU turnover and that is what tips the balance in many Irish-related deals. Converting UK turnover to non-EU turnover would take most of the Irish deals which have gone to Brussels out of the EU net. This would ordinarily mean more notifications across the EU for Irish businesses.

“Secondly, the UK could well introduce new criteria in merger control other than just competition post-Brexit (e.g., to protect UK interests) and the current regime liberal regime might not exist.”

Dr Power (pictured) also said notifications to the CCPC could decline depending on the outcome of a Government consultation on whether to increase the current financial thresholds for mandatory notifications.

He said “Businesses in Ireland, and internationally, are waiting to see if the thresholds will be increased with great interest.

“This could result in a decline in notifications to the CCPC but the CCPC will probably continue to keep deals below the compulsory thresholds under review so business leaders need to have all deals, no matter how small, reviewed for competition law compliance.”