Four leading companies have been shortlisted for the Deal of the Year category at The Irish Times Business Awards, which are run in association with Bank of Ireland.
In February, Irish-founded fintech Stripe said it has reached agreement with investors that would allow it to buy shares from current and former staff in a deal that valued the company at $91.5 billion (€87.3 billion).
That put the payments company within reach of the $95 billion valuation it had before a post-Covid slump in the tech industry. It also makes it one of the most valuable privately-held companies in the world.
Stripe was last year valued at $70 billion, when Sequoia Capital offered to buy shares from investors looking to cash out of the fintech.
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Cofounder John Collison reiterated that there were still no immediate plans for an initial public offering on the stock market.
[ John Collison of Stripe: Ireland is going backwards. Here’s how to get it movingOpens in new window ]
In April, Greencore secured backing from the board of rival food group Bakkavor for a £1.2 billion (€1.37 billion) purchase of its London-based peer.
This will create a convenience food business in the UK with combined revenue of £4 billion and about 30,500 employees. Existing Greencore investors are to own 56 per cent of the group.
In November, Greencore received clearance in principle from the UK competition watchdog to proceed with its takeover, after agreeing a deal to sell its Bristol manufacturing plant. The transaction is expected to close in early 2026.
Greencore’s share price in London has surged more than 25 per cent in the year to date on the back of strong trading, and news of the Bakkavor deal.
In November, Waterford-based Dawn Meats received the green light to acquire a majority stake in New Zealand’s biggest meat processor, Alliance Group.
The Irish company has paid $270 million New Zealand dollars (€132 million) to acquire a 65 per cent shareholding in Alliance.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Dawn Meats chief Niall Browne said although the appetite for red meat was on the rise globally, there were limited opportunities to secure supplies to satisfy demand.
“For a company like Dawn, which has grown to the size it has in Ireland and Britain, there is not much more we can grow in those jurisdictions,” he said.
Family owned, Dawn Meats has more than 8,000 employees, exports to about 50 countries and has annual turnover in excess of €3 billion.
In mid July, Dalata Hotel Group announced it had reached agreement with a Scandinavian consortium to buy the business for €1.4 billion.
The €6.45-a-share cash deal came a little over six weeks after Oslo-based investment firm Eiendomsspar and Swedish hotel company Pandox, in which it owns an almost 25 per cent stake, elbowed their way into the sales process with a €1.3 billion bid. This initial bid was rejected by the Dublin-listed company.
Dalata is Ireland’s largest hotel chain with about 5,500 employees and a portfolio of 56 hotels under the Maldron and Clayton brands.
The Nordic group made an improved offer on June 24th. The final bid was 40 cents a share above the initial one, and marked a 35.5 per cent premium to Dalata’s stock before the board launched a strategic review in early March.
Dalata’s board had hired Rothschild in early March to carry out a strategic review, after the stock had risen only 6 per cent over the previous four years. The stock was trading about 25 per cent below to its inherent value.
The winner of the Deal of the Year award will be chosen by a panel of judges, chaired by Microsoft executive Anne Sheehan. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Dublin, on February 19th.
The winner of last year’s deal award was Irish-listed food giant Kerry Group for the divestment of its dairy processing operations to Kerry Co-op members.
