Philip Lee has published the fifth edition of its cross-border deal insight guide, produced by Eoghan Doyle and Andrew Tzialli from the firm’s corporate team in association with Experian.

“M&A activity in Ireland in 2023 remained relatively strong, with the volume of deals remaining above pre-2020 levels but slowing in comparison to 2022,” the report states.

“Continuing with previous trends, companies from the UK and USA remained the most focused on making deals with Irish companies. As for buoyant sectors, the information and communication sector rose to be the most prominent sector for deal activity.

“The value of inward deals has increased dramatically, up 71 per cent year-on-year.

“As was expected, activity in the UK has declined so far this year due to a challenging regulatory environment, delayed Brexit impacts, inflation and increasing costs. The majority of deals have been in the small to mid-market value range.

“That said, UK companies continue to hold significant international appeal and overseas interests in UK publicly-listed companies has risen significantly, reporting one of the highest figures recorded by Experian. Tech and professional, scientific and technical services continue to perform well and were the leading sectors for overseas investment by UK companies.”