Ronan Shanahan

Partner

Ronan is a Partner in William Fry’s Corporate / M&A Department and is Co-Lead of the Technology / Data / Communications Group.  His practice is focused on M&A and private equity in particular.

Ronan Shanahan

Ronan is Partner on the Corporate M&A team and is Co-Lead of William Fry’s Technology / Data / Communications Group. He advises on a broad range of transactional work focusing on M&A, private equity transactions, investments and cross-border deals.  His transactional work is principally mid-market private M&A but takes in equity capital markets as well.

Ronan also deals with complex corporate and reorganizational advices and projects for high-profile domestic and international clients. Clients note technical skill and ease-of-use as characteristics of Ronan’s approach.

Recent transactions include:

  • Acting for H Lundbeck A/S on its €2.4bn proposal for the acquisition of Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc.
  • Acting for DNB Bank ASA as lender to Pandox in respect of the €1.4bn offer for Dalata Hotel Group plc.
  • Advising Echelon Data Centres on Starwood Capital’s investment of $850m to become a 50% shareholder in Echelon, valuing Echelon at €2.5bn.
  • Acting for MML Growth Capital Partners on its investment in Mail Metrics providing funding for the simultaneous acquisition of Adare SEC.  Both businesses provide multi-channel customer communication solutions, specializing in digital transformation, print and mail services for regulated industries.
  • Acting for Mitsubishi Electric Corporation on the acquisition of Ascension Lifts and Crystal Air.
  • Advising UKG on its acquisition payroll management platform, Immedis, with a reported deal value in excess of €500m.
  • Acting for Genuine Cable Group (GCG) and Audax on the acquisition of RWL Advanced Solutions, a distributor of data cabling and network products.
  • Advising TRC Companies, Inc. on its acquisition of Garanzuay Consulting.
  • Advising Interogo Holding on its investment in a joint venture with Ferrovial which acquired interests in the M3 and M4/M6 motorway toll road concessions.
  • Acting on the sale of CR2, a digital banking and payments technology business, to HPS.
  • Advising Bank of America on the sale of its Irish custodial services business to Apex Group.
  • Irish Residential Properties REIT plc on the acquisition of its regulated investment manager and the internalisation of its related investment management function.
  • SIRO, the ESB-Vodafone joint venture, in connection with its raising €620m from a syndicate of Irish and international investors (including the European Investment Bank) to fund the upgrade and expansion of its fibre-to-the-home network.
  • Melior Equity Partners on its acquisition of the non-life insurance broker, BHP Insurance.
  • Melior Equity Partners on its acquisition of Salmon Software, a provider of treasury software solutions to medium and large enterprise customers globally.
  • Assured Partners on its acquisition of Gallivan Murphy Insurance Brokers by way of competitive auction.
  • AnaCap Financial Partners on its investment in Further Underwriting International, a digitally enabled specialist in the design and development of niche health insurance products and service solutions.
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on its acquisition of PwC’s tax and immigration global mobility business.
  • TowerBrook Capital Partners in its agreement to acquire Premium Credit Limited, the regulated provider of premium finance for commercial and retail insurance products, from Cinven.
  • Infinigate on its strategic acquisition of cloud distributor Vuzion creating the first Cybersecurity and Secure Cloud VAD.
  • Uniphar plc on its agreement to acquire the McCauley Pharmacy Group.
  • MediaTek on its acquisition of Intel’s power-management chip business.

Education, Qualifications and Admissions

  • Bachelor of Business and Law (First Class Honours), University College Dublin
  • Admitted as a solicitor in Ireland, 2013
  • Member of the International Bar Association
  • Member of the American Bar Association
2024 Legal 500 EMEA
2023 Legal 500 EMEA
2022 Legal 500 EMEA
2025 IFLR 1000

Practice Areas

Private Equity
Capital Markets – Equity
Corporate / M&A

Related Sectors

Sports & Entertainment
Technology, Data & Comms 
Array
(
    [0] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 49
            [name] => Article and Insights
            [slug] => articlesinsights
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 49
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 5480
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 49
            [category_count] => 5480
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Article and Insights
            [category_nicename] => articlesinsights
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

)
Article and Insights

Private Equity- M&A Half Year Review 2025

PE investors announced 57 deals in Ireland duringH1 2025, ahead of the 41 and 46 transactions they completed during H1 and H2 2024.

Ronan Shanahan
Partner
Ronan Shanahan
Array
(
    [0] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 12944
            [name] => Announcement
            [slug] => announcement
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 12944
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 98
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 12944
            [category_count] => 98
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Announcement
            [category_nicename] => announcement
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

    [1] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 49
            [name] => Article and Insights
            [slug] => articlesinsights
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 49
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 5480
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 49
            [category_count] => 5480
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Article and Insights
            [category_nicename] => articlesinsights
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

    [2] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 287
            [name] => News
            [slug] => news
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 287
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 201
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 287
            [category_count] => 201
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => News
            [category_nicename] => news
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

    [3] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 33
            [name] => Press Release
            [slug] => press-release
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 33
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 33
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 33
            [category_count] => 33
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Press Release
            [category_nicename] => press-release
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

)
Article and Insights

William Fry Advises on Financing of Pandox’s Acquisition of Dalata

William Fry LLP is pleased to have acted for DNB Bank ASA as lender to Pandox in respect of the €1.4bn offer for Dalata Hotel Group plc.

Ronan Shanahan
Partner
Ronan Shanahan
Array
(
    [0] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 49
            [name] => Article and Insights
            [slug] => articlesinsights
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 49
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 5480
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 49
            [category_count] => 5480
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Article and Insights
            [category_nicename] => articlesinsights
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

    [1] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 12943
            [name] => Report
            [slug] => report
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 12943
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 67
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 12943
            [category_count] => 67
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Report
            [category_nicename] => report
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

)
Article and Insights

Private Equity – Irish M&A Review 2023

The number of M&A deals involving a PE investor decreased in 2023 with 58 transactions announced, down 11% from 2022; these were collectively worth...

Ronan Shanahan
Partner
Ronan Shanahan
Array
(
    [0] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 49
            [name] => Article and Insights
            [slug] => articlesinsights
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 49
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 5480
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 49
            [category_count] => 5480
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Article and Insights
            [category_nicename] => articlesinsights
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

    [1] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 13
            [name] => Podcast
            [slug] => podcast
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 13
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 65
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 13
            [category_count] => 65
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Podcast
            [category_nicename] => podcast
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

)
Podcast

Ep2 – What you should know about the liability of your sports club/bodies

In this episode, the group will discuss the legal status of unincorporated associations and the potential implications for those clubs and their me...

Array
(
    [0] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 49
            [name] => Article and Insights
            [slug] => articlesinsights
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 49
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 5480
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 49
            [category_count] => 5480
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Article and Insights
            [category_nicename] => articlesinsights
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

)
Article and Insights

Digital Transformation Driving Change in the Profile of Irish Tech Deals

The rise of digital adoption and the implementation of digital transformation strategies in recent years has led to significant M&A growth in the t...

Ronan Shanahan
Partner
Ronan Shanahan
Array
(
    [0] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 49
            [name] => Article and Insights
            [slug] => articlesinsights
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 49
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 5480
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 49
            [category_count] => 5480
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Article and Insights
            [category_nicename] => articlesinsights
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

    [1] => WP_Term Object
        (
            [term_id] => 35
            [name] => Videos
            [slug] => videos
            [term_group] => 0
            [term_taxonomy_id] => 35
            [taxonomy] => category
            [description] => 
            [parent] => 0
            [count] => 17
            [filter] => raw
            [cat_ID] => 35
            [category_count] => 17
            [category_description] => 
            [cat_name] => Videos
            [category_nicename] => videos
            [category_parent] => 0
        )

)
Article and Insights

M&A Review 2021 – Ronan Shanahan Video

Ronan Shanahan explains how a quarter of the 240 transactions in 2021 were driven by Private Equity and while that represents an increase in volume...

Ronan Shanahan
Partner
Ronan Shanahan