M&A International Inc. member IBI Corporate Finance ranked No. 1 financial advisor for seventh year in a row

December 2011. M&A International Inc. member IBI Corporate Finance has been ranked as the No. 1 financial advisor in Ireland in the annual review of international mergers and acquisitions activity by specialist M&A publisher, Mergermarket. This is the seventh successive year that IBI has been ranked No. 1.

IBI topped the league table for the number of transactions on which it advised with a total of 14 qualifying deals with a cumulative deal value of US$3.5bn in 2011. The company was also ranked top in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005.

Innovative advice

Commenting on the announcement, Tom Godfrey, IBI Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted that IBI's track record of providing innovative corporate finance advice has been acknowledged independently. Mergermarket's analysis shows that IBI consistently advises on more announced deals in Ireland than any other financial advisor.

Cross-border deals involving buyers and targets from the UK, US, Belgium, Netherlands, Canada and Bulgaria accounted for 64% of IBI’s total in the last year, reflecting the open nature of the Irish economy and the strength of IBI’s international reach.

While market conditions remain extremely difficult, we envisage that 2012 will bring further complex and strategically significant transactions for our clients."

About Mergermarket
Mergermarket covers corporate finance activity in Europe, North America, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. Mergermarket generates proprietary intelligence and delivers it, together with daily aggregated content, on its www.mergermarket.com platform.

About IBI Corporate Finance
IBI Corporate Finance is Ireland's leading corporate finance advisor, providing expert, independent advice. It acts for public, private and semi-state companies covering a wide spectrum of domestic and international transactions.

IBI Corporate Finance is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank of Ireland Group and is the Irish member of M&A International Inc.

IBI Corporate Finance Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
www.ibicorporatefinance.ie

About M&A International Inc.
Established in 1985, M&A International Inc. offers the unparalleled, global resources of over 500 M&A professionals operating in every major financial center of the world. We are closely linked and together we advise our clients on acquisitions, divestitures and financing. We have closed over 1,400 transactions totaling more than US$85 billion in transaction value in the past five years.
www.mergers.net

For further information, please contact:

M&A International Inc.
Christopher Scales, Executive Director, +34 678 549 330, cps@mergers.net
Melanie Berthelot-Verhaeghe, Head of Marketing, +34 646 740 259, melanie.berthelot@mergers.net