IBI Corporate Finance has topped the list of deal advisers in Ireland when measured by the number of transactions it was invovled in, according to tables released by Mergermarket.

IBI advised on 15 transactions in 2014, including the acquisition by Denis O'Brien of Topaz's loans from Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. It also advised on deals involving the acquisition of Straight by One51, and the disposals of ArcRoyal, Smiles Dental, ICS Building Society, Eschmann Holdings and Stone Developments.

Tom Godfrey, the chief executive of IBI Corporate Finance, said 2014 was the busiest year for deals since 2006.

“We are already engaged with a number of clients and we are confident that next year will see a broadly similar level of activity to the current year,” said Mr Godfrey.