When is one better than two? Veterinary surgeries, pharmacies, accountancy practices have all have been swept up in a wave of consolidation in recent years. Driven by factors such as strategy, cost pressure and succession planning, observers say many more sectors are ripe for consolidation in the coming years.
Consolidation remains a constant across the Irish mid-market, with a sustained appetite for M&A across these broader sectors, notes Ronan Murray, corporate finance partner at EY Ireland. “Activity is particularly noticeable in fragmented industries with recurring revenues, specialist expertise and growing investment requirements,” he says.
“Recent transactions EY has worked on share a common rationale: buyers are seeking quality earnings, resilient customer relationships, geographic expansion and capabilities that can be difficult to build organically.”
Greater scale also supports investment in technology, cybersecurity, compliance, talent and service delivery, he explains, while creating opportunities to share best practice and strengthen operational resilience. “A sale or investment can allow shareholders to realise value while giving the business access to funding, expertise and international reach.”
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According to Gerard Ryan, partner in William Fry’s corporate/M&A department, Ireland is seeing the same buy-and-build dynamic play out across veterinary, pharmacy and accountancy practices that has reshaped insurance broking, dental and GP services over the past few years.
Ryan points to IVC Evidensia’s continued acquisition trail in veterinary care and Lonsdale Capital Partners’ stated ambition to build a platform of up to 40 Irish veterinary practices as two of the clearest signals of where the market is heading. Lonsdale, he adds, has also established Atlantic Healthcare Alliance to acquire and build a network of GP practices across Ireland.
In accountancy, Azets Ireland’s backers, PAI Partners and Hg Capital, have been active acquirers of regional firms since entering the Irish market via Baker Tilly Ireland in 2023, while Ifac has pursued a steady run of its own regional consolidation. Meanwhile, William Fry advised Grant Thornton Advisors and New Mountain Capital on their combination with Grant Thornton Ireland, the largest accountancy combination in Ireland to date.
Darran Nangle, partner, corporate and M&A, with law firm A&L Goodbody highlights “significant activity” within the pharmacy sector, with PHX Ireland’s acquisition of the McCabes Pharmacy chain. “The consolidation wave in the accountancy sphere has been particularly pronounced, with private equity-backed firms such as Xeinadin, backed by Exponent, pursuing ambitious buy-and-build strategies,” he adds.
A&L Goodbody recently advised S&W, backed by private equity firm Apax, on its acquisition of MC2 Accountants Limited, one of Munster’s leading audit, tax and business advisory firms, and Beechwood Partners, a Dublin-based accountancy and tax advisory firm focused on private clients.
For many of these businesses, the main driver of consolidation is the age-old question of succession planning: Ryan points out that a lot of these businesses are owned by practitioners with no obvious next generation ready or willing to take over; “a trade or private equity sale is often the cleanest exit available”.
But Murray also notes that, for founders and shareholders, joining a larger platform can provide additional resources, access to new markets and a long-term home for the business. “It may also preserve a company’s identity and customer proposition while supporting its next phase,” he asserts. “Increasingly, M&A is viewed not simply as an exit, but as a strategic tool to accelerate growth, access capital, manage succession and unlock long-term value.”
Murray also highlights economies of scale as a motivating factor. “Scale matters because Irish businesses must continue investing in technology, cybersecurity, AI, regulation and talent,” he says. “Back-office functions, compliance, insurance, procurement and increasingly technology are all cheaper and easier to manage across a platform of 10 sites than one, and that gap has widened as regulatory and cybersecurity obligations have grown heavier for small independent operators,” agrees Ryan. The advent of AI poses threats but also opportunities for scale and efficiencies across a platform.
“The cost of keeping pace with digital transformation and compliance is increasingly beyond the reach of smaller independent operators,” says Phil Fogarty, partner, corporate and M&A, A&L Goodbody. “Clients also expect broader and more sophisticated service offerings, which larger platforms are often better placed to provide.”
Many of these sectors remain fragmented, giving larger operators and private equity-backed platforms scope to buy and build around strong local businesses. “Fragmented, owner-operator sectors are exactly the profile private equity looks for when it wants to build a platform through repeated bolt-on acquisitions rather than one large deal,” adds Ryan.
Capital supporting M&A is coming from international trade acquirers, listed companies, private equity funds and PE-backed strategic platforms seeking high-quality Irish businesses, says Murray. “The businesses attracting the strongest buyer interest are not simply the largest,” he notes. “They have a clear growth plan, strong management, reliable earnings and a compelling equity story. Buyers are increasingly focused on quality and preparedness, not simply scale.”
EY’s recent transaction experience highlights the depth of this buyer universe, Murray says. “We advised Cognate Health on its sale to UK-listed Optima Health, demonstrating public strategic appetite, while the medicines.ie and Cormeo joint venture illustrates international corporate investment.” Investors are also deploying capital through minority and growth investments. EY advised Granite Digital on BGF’s minority investment, showing how capital partners are backing ambitious Irish businesses to accelerate growth and scale.
This mix of specialist and generalist private equity is coming mostly from the UK, the US and continental Europe, rather than Ireland, says Ryan. “This is alongside a smaller number of Irish-owned consolidators, such as Ifac, that aren’t private equity-backed but are acquiring on a similar model.”
Ryan also notes that debt financing has become more expensive over the past couple of years, which has slowed the pace of growth of some platforms and pushed a few buyers toward more conservative strategies; “but the appetite for these sectors hasn’t gone away, it’s just being deployed more selectively”.
Strategic options range from growth investment and acquisition-led expansion to full or partial liquidity events, adds Murray. “The optimal route depends on shareholder objectives, business readiness and the right partner.
“Our conversations with professional services firms also suggest that owners in fragmented markets are increasingly considering succession, investment and broader strategic options,” Murray says. EY is seeing meaningful buyer interest across insurance, technology, logistics, specialist healthcare, engineering and facilities services. “These sectors combine fragmented ownership with resilient demand, specialist expertise, and opportunities to create scale,” he says. “Technology remains particularly attractive across managed services, cybersecurity, cloud, and data.”
Ryan believes the healthcare sector is the one to watch. “I’d expect opticians, physiotherapy and allied health, senior care and childcare to follow the same pattern over the next two to three years; all fragmented, owner-led sectors with a genuine succession problem and clear efficiencies of scale on offer to a platform buyer.”
He adds that legal services may begin to follow suit, as private equity (PE) investment into UK law firms continues to grow. “Direct PE investment into Irish law firms isn’t available under the current regulatory framework,” Ryan explains. “The US had a similar prohibition but there is a move in certain US states to allow alternative business structure regimes that permit non-lawyers own and control law firms.” In addition, clever structuring using managed services organisations has accelerated PE investment in US legal services with reports of major US law firms exploring selling stakes to private equity.
Across several sectors, Ireland remains at an early stage of consolidation relative to the US and UK, Fogarty says, where PE-backed roll-ups are increasingly mature and competitive. “That gap provides an opportunity for those well placed to take on the sourcing and integration challenges.”
Fogarty adds that the expectation is that a “roll-up strategy” will be increasingly applied to a growing range of businesses, with those in healthcare, wealth management, professional services, and regulatory and compliance all attracting particular interest. “These all exhibit similar hallmarks: fragmentation, succession challenges, rising compliance costs and strong investor appetite.”
