Smurfit deal with WestRock lifts Matheson in M&A rankings

The€19bn deal was the largest with Irish involvement and the sixth largest globally this year.The latest M&A tallies from financial data provider London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), shows the value of deals with an Irish element increased nearly 50pc in the first nine months of the year versus the same period of 2022, to €25.4bn, largely down to the Smurfit Kappa deal.

The number of Irish deals declined to 408, 18pc down on the same time last year but still the third highest tally for the first nine months of any year.

Deals where the target is Irish, including with a cross border buyer, dropped by 20pc from 2022 levels and to a three-year low.

Globally, the value of worldwide M&A is down 27pc including a big drop in cross border deals and a 42pc decline in so-called mega mergers, transactions worth more than €10bn.

M&A advisory is lucrative and has become highly competitive with domestic law firms and financial advisors going toe-to-toe with global firms and international advisory boutiques to win mandates.

So far this year the domestic players have held their lead. Law firm A&L Goodbody can claim bragging rights as the busiest advisor of the year to date, acting on 38 deals to beat out joint second place rivals Arthur Cox and Matheson, but Matheson’s work for Smurfit Kappa on the WestRock deal means it is a clear winner if the ranking on value of transactions. It is the only Irish firm advising on the deal.

Financial advisory house IBI, the local affiliate of the Oaklins, ranked as the busiest advisor in its field, ahead of Benchmark International, JP Morgan and PWC in terms of the number of deals worked on. Global investment bank Lazard ranked fifth on the league table by deals but work on the Smurfit Kappa deal puts it among the top ranked advisors based on deal size.

Citi is acting as lead advisor to Smurfit Kappa with PJT Partners also advising. Lazard, Evercore and Goldman are advising WestRock.