Irish M&A: transactions completing but with deeper diligence; allow for longer deal timelines

A major theme that emerged in 2025 in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was a longer deal process, according to John Bowe. “Sell-side mandates are now taking up to a year from engagement to completion. Both corporate and private-equity buyers are seeking additional trading months and deeper visibility before committing,” he says.

While valuations have remained steady for quality assets, buyers have overall become much more selective and are committing more time for due diligence. While this traditionally covered financial, legal, tax, IT and commercial aspects of a business, the scope has now expanded to cover cybersecurity, data privacy and environmental, social and governance (ESG) reviews.

“Cybersecurity, in particular, is on every board and investment committee agenda. Having strong cyber resilience in place is now mission critical,” says Bowe.

Despite the longer timelines, M&A activity in Ireland has remained roughly in line with 2024 levels. Comparing global trends with international colleagues, Bowe notes that Ireland is slightly ahead of other countries.

He says, “Healthcare, data centre and tech-enabled businesses continue to be the most attractive sectors for M&A in Ireland. The long-term demographic trend of an ageing population is sustaining strong investment in healthcare.”

There has been a strong trend towards healthcare providers in particular. Forvis Mazars advised on a transaction involving the largest nursing home in Ireland last year.

With the rise of AI, data centres are another high-growth sector with strong investment prospects. Hanley Energy Group, a Co. Meath-based company recently acquired by multinational industrial engineering company Jabil, is a standout deal in this industry, valued at $750m. Bowe notes how this is a prime example of how Irish companies can scale globally.

Last year, Forvis Mazars also worked on the ATC Logistics sale to Arvato, part of the Bertelsmann Group. ATC provides the tech industry with last-mile data centre rack logistics. The father-and-son-led company is another success story of how Irish-founded businesses can achieve global scale with the right partner, he comments.

Bowe expects a strong year in 2026 for investments in the data centre services sector. “Irish companies are global leaders and will remain in high demand from both trade and financial investors,” he says