A&L Goodbody advised on 75% of Northern Ireland deals by value in 2022 deal rankings

Corporate law firm A&L Goodbody (ALG) advised on over 75% of all reportable deals in Northern Ireland during 2022 by reference to value, according to official rankings published by global information services company Experian.

Belfast-based ALG advised on over £650m of the total £850m total transactions referenced by Experian for Northern Ireland – including each of the five largest deals transacted in the jurisdiction in the past year.

David Rowan, head of corporate at ALG, said: “Consistent with the last few years, there were several transactions throughout the year at the upper end of the market with a disclosed value exceeding £100m including the acquisition of the McBurney Transport Group by DFDS for £143m and the £100m investment into Clanmill Housing Association. These are complex, high value transactions which have the greatest impact on the economic development of Northern Ireland.

"We also observed strong levels of activity in terms of mid-market transactions – such as the acquisition of Tesab Engineering in Omagh on behalf of the Metso Outotec Group as well as the sale of WoodFloor Warehouse to Grafton Group.

"Outside the jurisdiction, Northern Irish companies continued to expand through strategic acquisitions including various international acquisitions by local blind manufacturer Mzuri and the acquisition of Swedish company Bluesprint AB by Bedford Consultancy Services.

"Encouragingly, we also saw the continued provision of significant growth capital into the NI market, having advised Axial 3D on its significant investment by Stratasys Solutions.”

Commenting on the outlook for 2023, Mr Rowan added: “We are expecting levels of activity to be stable in 2023 despite various challenges on a macroeconomic level, with strong local businesses continuing to attract interest from prospective buyers.”

ALG’s Corporate and M&A team in Northern Ireland is led by partners Peter Stafford, Mark Thompson, Alastair Keith, David Rowan, Mark Stockdale and Sarah Dugdale.