Mid-market M&A activity declines by 23 per cent in first half of 2016

Mid-market M&A activity in the UK and Ireland declined by 23 per cent in the first half of 2016, the Sunday Independent reports.

The figures are included in an internal BDO report, which found a total of 37 mid-market deals worth around €2.6 billion took place this year, compared with 52 deals worth €2.8 billion over the same period in 2015.

Katharine Byrne, head of BDO’s corporate finance team, said: “Midmarket deals in H1 were 23pc down, principally due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

“But this should not come as a big surprise as before the vote over 67pc of dealmakers were of view that Brexit would not be good for investment decisions.”

“Since the vote, it has become clear that Brexit will take two to three years to unfold, so the key challenge for Irish businesses is to manage the uncertainties while at same time continuing with their growth plans.”

However, Ms Byrne also said Ireland is “now more attractive from FDI perspective with US buyers looking to buy Irish businesses to develop as platform for growth into Europe”.

She added: “Also, Ireland has great potential to capitalise on the move of multinationals out of the UK, starting with the financial services sector.”