Global Pandemic the reasoning behind Irish deal-making decline by 71% in the first half of 2020.

 M&A with any Irish involvement totalled US$6.3 billion during the first half of 2020, down 71% compared to the value recorded during the same period in 2019, and the lowest first-half total since 2011 according to Refinitiv research released today.

The largest deal, Eaton Corp’s US$3.3 billion agreed sale of its hydraulics business to Danish Danfoss A/S in January, accounted for over half of deal-making activity so far during 2020.

The number of deals declined 24% year-on-year to a seven-year low.

M&A activity reached just US$164.2 million during March 2020, marking the lowest monthly total since September 2013.

Merger activity remained muted during the second quarter of 2020 with just US$2.1 billion worth of transactions announced between April and June, marking the lowest quarterly total since the third quarter of 2016.

Deals worth a combined US$1.9 billion involved an Irish target during the first half of 2020, 75% less than the value recorded during the first six months of 2019 and the lowest first half total since 2009.

Global Pandemic Causes Irish Deal-Making Decline

Inbound M&A, involving an Irish target and a foreign buyer, totalled US$1.8 billion and accounted for 96% of activity, while domestic deals reached just US$80.7 million.

Irish outbound M&A declined 82% to US$728.9 million during the first six months of 2020, marking the lowest first-half total since 2009.

For their advisory work on the largest deal of the year so far, Citi took first place in the 1H 2020 financial advisor ranking for M&A with any Irish involvement.

Bebhinn Dunne, Ireland Country Manager for Refinitiv, commented:

  “After an unprecedented M&A cycle that saw consolidation touch every sector and region, the second quarter of 2020 marked the official end of the post-financial crisis era for deal-making.

Bebhinn considered how COVID 19 affected worldwide M&A.

“With global M&A down 42% by value and a sharp decline by number of deals, Irish deal makers hit pause alongside many of the worldwide economies grappling with the global pandemic”.

She concluded by speaking of how regular levels of productivity will take time to come back:

“Some opportunistic deals are still occurring, but it will take a bit of time for confidence levels to return to the boardroom as deal makers assess post-COVID business models and valuations.”

About Deals Intelligence: Deals Intelligence, a part of Refinitiv’s Investing & Advisory division, brings up to the minute market intelligence to the deal-making community and the financial media through a variety of research reports including Daily Deals Insight, weekly Investment Banking Scorecard, monthly Deals Snapshots and our industry-leading quarterly reviews highlighting trends in M&A and Capital Markets. For more information, please follow us on Twitter @dealintel.

About Refinitiv: Refinitiv, formerly the Financial & Risk business of Thomson Reuters, is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure. Serving more than 40,000 institutions in over 190 countries, we provide information, insights, and technology that drive innovation and performance in global markets. Our 160-year Reuters heritage of integrity enables customers to make critical decisions with confidence, while our unique open platform, best-in-class data, and cutting-edge technology bring greater opportunity to our customers. By advancing our customers, we drive progress for the entire financial community. For more information, go to www.refinitiv.com.

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