| Deals of the Year 2025: Awards reflect a buoyant year and a deepening of markets across all categories |
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| The 2025 Finance Dublin Annual Deals of the Year Awards reflect a growing buoyancy of aggregate deal making in Ireland running now at a sustainable level approaching $1 bn per annum across the five Finance Dublin Deal categories of M&A, Debt Capital Markets, Equity Capital Markets, Loans & Financing, and Financial Services, including Aviation Finance. |
Over the past 30+ years the Finance Dublin Deals of the Year have highlighted the vibrancy and creativity of finance in Ireland, allied to the professionalism of the financial services, legal, accounting, corporate finance and professional services sectors that provide an unrivalled level of service to Ireland – across both the private and public sectors. And that professionalism and creativity was never more apparent than in 2024 when 61 deals from more than 220 nominations were awarded by the Finance Dublin judging panel.
From multi-billion euro merger and acquisitions, to heavily oversubscribed corporate bond issues, new investment products based on debt for nature swaps and transition metals, Islamic and Chinese bond issues, and to proven industries such as aviation finance and leasing, Ireland has shown itself to be a key jurisdiction in the global capital network servicing a variety of industries.
Picking a single deal that might be given an overall “Deal of the Year” accolade might seem unfair given the quality of the nominations but the $25 billion merger between Smurfit Kappa and WestRock to create Smurfit WestRock, the world’s biggest packaging group that remains headquartered in Ireland is way up there.
To say the merger was complex is a major understatement and a plethora of legal and accounting challenges spread across multiple jurisdictions had to be overcome but the merger was completed. Solutions created by the various legal advisers included the creation of a “double dummy” acquisition structure which resulted in the acquisition of an Irish incorporated-topco by each of Smurfit Kappa and WestRock by way of an Irish scheme of arrangement and a Delaware statutory merger. Financing of the merger was equally complex and challenging and that is why the pre-merger Smurfit Kappa $2.75bn green bond and and a €4.5bn RCF by the merged group also received awards in the Debt Capital Markets and Loans & Financing categories respectively.  | | L:R: Rachel Parr, Senior Treasury Manager, Kingspan Group Plc , Paul Roche, Group Treasurer, Kingspan Group Plc |
Deals like these sometimes have unfortunate downsides and the Smurfit WestRock merger resulted in the departure of Smurfit Kappa from the Euronext Dublin market, compounding the problems of Euronext which has also seen the departure of the likes of CRH, C&C and Greencore and other major Irish plcs seeking more attractive vehicles for the listing of their shares.
Another major M&A winner was the long-awaited separation of Kerry Group and Kerry Co-op through the €500m sale of the group’s Irish dairy business to the co-op. That deal itself and the debt package provided to fund the acquisition won awards in their respective categories while Kerry Group’s return to debt capital markets with a heavily oversubscribed €1bn bond issue also in the Debt Capital Markets category.
Finding new sources of funding is always a challenge and that it why aircraft leasing group AerCap’s debut Islamic $500m sukuk Islamic bond. The award-winning deal saw AerCap further diversify its funding sources at a time when Middle Eastern interest in aviation finance is reaching new heights and became only the second aircraft lessor to issue sukuk. Sukuk are Sharia-compliant fixed income capital markets instruments. They are financial products whose terms and structures comply with Sharia (or Islamic) law, while intending to produce financial returns which are similar to those of conventional fixed income instruments such as bonds.
BASF Ireland, the Irish arm of the German chemicals giant, also notched up a bond market first when it became the first Irish entity to issue a Panda bond. This €264m transaction represents a significant milestone for Irish issuers in the Chinese bond market, demonstrating the growing integration of foreign issuers in China’s financial markets and underscoring the strategic importance of the Panda bond market as a platform to access Chinese capital. The BASF bond was offered on the Chinese Interbank Bond Market and is listed on the Singapore Exchange, the first time a corporate Panda bond from a non-financial institution has been listed on the Singapore Exchange.
On the domestic bond market, the move by the National Treasury Management Agency to update the legal framework for issuing Irish sovereign debt won a well-deserved award. It had been several years since Ireland updated the legal framework for issuing sovereign debt and a number of enhancements, including the incorporation of modern collective action clauses and the facility to issue bonds governed by either English law or Irish law, were incorporated into the new programme documentation.
Mannok Holdings, the entity that emerged from the wreckage of the Sean Quinn empire, has had a short but chequered history, and the €330m sale of the group to the Turkish group Cimsa won a M&A Deal of the Year accolade. Many issues had to be sorted before this landmark deal could be compoleted, not the least of these was the size of the group and its location, with the Mannok Group’s properties, factories and warehouses straddling both sides of the Irish and Northern Irish border added a level of complexity to the real estate aspects of the deal
A further fundamental point of complexity was the extremely sensitive political and cultural background against which the transaction took place. The senior management team of Mannok bought the company in 2014 after Sean Quinn relinquished his shareholding in the group, following his disastrous investment in Anglo Irish Bank.The intervening period between the 2014 acquisition and the 2024 sale involved complex corporate reorganisations and transactions in relation to the group and included protests against the company and notoriously barbaric attacks against certain of the senior management.
Innovation was to the forefront in a debt-for-nature swap by Amazon Conservation DAC which won an international Deal of the Year for a debt deal which unlocked funding for the Amazon Biocorridor Program. This transaction involved the issuing of conservation bonds that, through a ‘debt-for-nature’ swap, provides savings for the Republic of Ecuador and $460 million in funding for the Amazon Biocorridor Program and shows the important role global capital markets can play in supporting nature conservation efforts.
The transaction involved an Irish special purpose vehicle, Amazon Conservation DAC, which issued $1 billion in conservation bonds. The proceeds of the conservation bonds were used to acquire approximately $1.53 billion of Ecuador’s sovereign debt, which was exchanged for a loan from Amazon Conservation DAC to Ecuador. This conservation funding will support the Amazon Biocorridor Program, which aims to improve the management of 4.6 million hectares of existing protected areas and protect an additional 1.8 million hectares of forests and wetlands, while protecting cultural diversity and supporting the well-being of local communities. This is a prime example of a ‘debt for nature swap’, a transaction type that has experienced significant interest in recent years.
Another climate and conservation-related debt issue that won a Deal of the Year award was the KraneShares CarbonCredits ETC Securities Programme, which gives European investors a means of investing in futures contracts on emission allowances issued by various ‘cap and trade’ regulatory schemes and demonstrates Ireland’s credentials as a jurisdiction for the development of unique and innovative investment products for international investors. | | L:R: David Breen, Head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations and Ross O'Connor, Chief Financial Officer, Avolon. |
The ETC Securities are designed to provide exposure to the performance of a specified basket comprising one or more carbon allowances comprised in a reference index, the S&P Global Carbon Credit Index, to which such ETC Securities are linked and are backed by holdings of futures contracts in relation to the particular type of carbon allowances in the basket. The ETC Securities therefore introduced a new way for investors to go long on the price of carbon while supporting responsible investing.
The $ 33bn US Listing by gaming group Flutter Entertainment is a unique transaction involving an Irish public company, qualifying it for a “super” Equity Capital Markets Deal of the Year award. and alongside CRH’s US listing marks the first time that an Irish incorporated company has held joint US and UK/Irish listings. Flutter’s ordinary shares continue to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The structure used to implement the US Listing is novel and bespoke to Flutter. In particular, the structure allowed Flutter to implement the US Listing based solely on a once-off shareholder vote and avoided the need for a scheme of arrangement. It also preserved flexibility for the Flutter board to decide whether or not to retain its existing Euronext Dublin listing at a later date.
One of the landmark transactions in 2024 and a winner of a M&A Deal of the Year was the merger of US-based Grant Thornton Advisors LLC with the Grant Thornton Ireland advisory and tax business. The deal received backing from an investor group led by New Mountain Capital, a leading investment firm with approximately $55 billion in assets under management. Grant Thornton Ireland’s audit practice remains independent and continues to operate under an alternative practice structure. This move by Grant Thornton has led to inevitable speculation that it may become a template for other Irish professionally firms to split the advisory and tax side of the business from the auditing side.
Though the price tag was not revealed, EQT Private Equity’s acquisition of the Limerick technology group AMCS is thought to be one of the largest ever sales of an Irish technology company. The co-founder, management and other existing investors, including Insight Partners, as well as Clearlake Capital, Highland Europe and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, retained minority stakes in AMCS following the transaction.
Ireland is a global centre for the international aircraft leasing industry so the $5bn acquisition by Avolon of another major Irish-based leasing company, Castlelake Aviation, is a M&A Deal of the Year. This was a very significant acquisition for Avolon, enabling the group to obtain a portfolio of aircraft assets that are complementary to its existing portfolio. The assets acquired comprised 105 aircraft, 2 engines and 13 aircraft commitments. The average age of the aircraft acquired was 4.7 years, with 70% invested in new technology aircraft. | | BNP Paribas' winning deals team [L-R]: Neal Parker, Cormac O'Reilly, Derek Kehoe, Tetiana Kravchenko, Wissam Matar, Liam Doherty and Glen Thorpe. |
The transaction involved two of the largest aviation companies in the world, both of which are based or headquartered in Ireland. The value of the deal, the number of assets and the complexity of the loans that required releases required innovative and flexible solutions on a demanding deadline. The transaction will accelerate Avolon’s earnings growth, building its fleet at attractive yields, while maintaining its balance sheet metrics within investment grade target ranges.
AIB’s $1bn MREL debt issue was notable for a number of reasons. One was the level of oversubscription - $7.2bn in orders for the $1bn on offer - and the duration of the bond at 11 years is the longest ever bond ever issued by an Irish borrower. The final order book was of very high high-quality, standing at $7.2bn, comprising 18 triple-digit orders, 19 orders between $50m and $99m, and approximately 240 investors across 33 countries in the US, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Additionally, for the first time, AIB elected to engage with and mandate D&I brokers as co-managers, as part of the bank’s Group’s Sustainable Communities strategic pillar.
Foreign direct investment in the Irish food industry continued with the acquisition by household name McCains Foods of the outstanding shares in Strong Roots, the Irish manufacturer of sustainability-based vegan frozen foods. Strong Roots products have joined the McCain Foodservice portfolio in the UK and Ireland and retail portfolio in France, with further plans to scale retail and foodservice offerings globally. The acquisition will see Strong Roots’ products being sold across a number of new markets and will help even more planet-friendly vegetable-focused products to reach the rising number of consumers internationally looking for healthier, natural and simple meals.
Foreign direct investment on an altogether greater scale came with Apollo Global Management’s $18bn investment for a 49% stake in Intel’s new Fab 34 plant at Leixlip. The tax implications of this transaction were extraordinarily complex. These included consideration and advices regarding what constitutes an Irish taxable presence, what constitutes trading substance from an Irish tax perspective, the corporation tax treatment of relevant expenditure and income incurred and generated by the joint venture, the application of BEPS Pillar II on the structure, the application of withholding taxes to payments and profit distributions as well as the Irish Capital Gains Tax, Irish Stamp Duty and Irish Research and Development tax credit implications of the proposed structure. The complexity of the matter was also compounded by its multijurisdictional aspect as competing requirements and advices led to a number of revisions of the plans to meet investor needs. achieved. Each aspect of the Fab 34 construction and the joint venture arrangement required careful and detailed analysis in order to tease out the myriad of tax implications of the intended structure.
The housing crisis in Ireland and the inability to build enough houses to meet what seems to be an insatiable demand has become a major focus for Government and its various housing-related agencies. To go some of the way to meet that demand the Government instituted a Cost Rental Scheme, dubbed CREL, as a key element in future housing provision. This initiative is a Loans & Finance Deal of the Year. Under the CREL scheme, tenants pay rent that covers the costs of delivering, managing, and maintaining the homes only and rents are a minimum of 25% below comparable market rates for the area with some developments achieving discounted rates of up to 50%.
This initiative is innovative and significant as CREL is the first national funding model for cost rental homes and the establishment of a cost rental model promotes an increased supply of affordable homes in areas where there is a high demand for housing. Of the 225 housing schemes (social and CREL) that reached financial close in 2024 (totalling €1.3bn), 42 were CREL schemes totalling €209m – this is expected to grow significantly as part of the Government plans for CREL housing schemes.
A new term “greenium” was added to the Debt Capital Markets lexicon after Permanent TSB launched its inaugural €500m green bond to an enthusiastic reception in the market. After being launched with an initial price talk of MS+195bps, the demand was such that PTSB was able to tighten its premium to MS+160bps, 5bps better than the estimated fair value. This premium to estimated fair value led PTSB’s advisers to coin the term “greenium”. At MS+160bps, the deal represented PTSB’s tightest lending level ever, and also the lowest net interest cost for an Irish deal since at least 2018.  | | Members of Matheson's winning deals team [L-R] Tomas Bailey, Partner; Susanne McMenamin, Partner; Thomas Burke, Senior Associate; Kate McKenna, Partner; Rachel Hodgins, Associate and Leo Collins, Associate. |
There was substantial quality in the order book with over 150 accounts seeking an allocation. The quality of the investor base was very strong with robust participation from both ESG focused investors ( c.60%) and international investment managers, thanks to the Group’s credit fundamentals, very strong ESG credentials and best-in-class Green Bond Programme. The proceeds from this bond have been directed towards providing loans for energy efficient homes.
The winner of the Debt Capital Markets RMBS Deal of the Year is Lugo Funding DAC, a c.€650m Residential Mortgage Backed Securitisation (RMBS). The transaction took advantage of strong investor interest in the European RMBS market with the issuance backed by a large portfolio of reperforming mortgages on Spanish properties and was structured to comply with the EU, UK and US securitisation rules. From a structural perspective, in addition to a variety of Spanish law requirements that the Irish Issuer and Seller had to navigate, a further novel feature of the deal was the acquisition of shares by the Issuer in a Spanish limited liability company on the closing date to hold Spanish real estate if enforcement of the underlying loans was required.
One of Ireland’s least known corporate success stories is possibly WaterWipes, the Drogheda company set up by Ed McCloskey in 2008 and which has become a global leader in the manufacture of premium wet wipes. British private equity group 3i invested €145m for a majority stake in the group with the proceeds earmarked to support WaterWipes’ expansion in Europe, Latim America and Asia. This investment was judged as a M&A Deal of the Year.
Kyte Powertech is another hugely successful Irish company which has hidden its success, but the extent of the company’s growth was made apparent when the Swiss components manufacturer R&S paid €250 million for the Cavan headquartered Kyte. The transaction also provided an exit strategy for MML Growth Capital Partners and the company management from their investment in Kyte Powertech, while the company senior management team headed by Stephanie Leonard remained in place having reinvested in the business. The consideration was comprised of a combination of cash and a participation roll-over by management. The participation rollover by management into listed shares in a Swiss company was a novel aspect of the deal.
Kingspan’s debut foray into public debt markets after a two-day roadshow proved to be a resounding success when its €750m bond issue was covered within 10 minutes of its launch and was four times oversubscribed. Such was the demand that the initial price talk of MS+150ps proved to be over-generous with lenders and the final terms for the bond issue were set at MS+120bps. In terms of investor participation, German, Austrian and Swiss investors took the top spot with 35%, followed by the UK and Nordics with 19% and 17%, respectively. While Kingspan had already issued a number of private placements, this transaction marked a successful public market debut for the Group.
Goodbody Stockbrokers was active in 2024 not just as an adviser but also as an investor in its own right after its Goodbody Capital Partners arm invested €17m in Aptech Business Systems, with the funding earmarked to support Aptech’s strategic push into global markets for its resource planning software. |
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