The corporate law firm has acted in 42 transactions in the year to date, according to the latest Experian MarketIQ report for the UK and Ireland.

A total of 555 deals involving an Irish company were announced during the first nine months of the year, worth a total of €38.5 billion — a two per cent decline in volume, but a five per cent increase in value.

According to Experian, there has been a particularly sharp increase in the information and communication sector, with infocomms replacing manufacturing as the most active sector for dealmaking.

Private equity activity in Ireland has also accelerated sharply, especially in technology-driven sectors, with a 27 per cent increase in PE-backed deals over the first three quarters.

There was also an upturn in the secondary market, where private equity houses transfer ownership of their portfolio companies to other private equity firms, with seven secondary buy-outs in 2024, up from just two in 2023.

Debt-funded M&A also increased, with Bank of Ireland as the leading provider, funding four deals over the year to date.

Eversheds Sutherland was the second most prolific M&A adviser, acting in 33 transactions, followed by Wallace Corporate Counsel on 29; Matheson, Beauchamps and Arthur Cox tied on 28; William Fry and McCann FitzGerald tied on 27; and Philip Lee and ReganWall tied on 26.