Buy4Now Disposes Of US Business; IFG Pays €13.6m For Two Pensions Firms; IFDS Takes Stake In Percana; NTT DoCoMo Buys Into Blue Ocean; Celtic Catalysts Raises €500,000 In Funding; and more M&A and fundraising activity Alchemy Funds €90m MBO At Noonan Services; Zeus Pays €19m For Packaging Firms; Arthur O'Hagan Joins With Mason Hayes & Curran; Galway Startup Bought By Scottish Firm; Delta Injects €2.5m Into Luzern Solutions; OpenJaw Snaps Up Galway's Traventec; and more Barclays Takes €20m Stake In Mainstream; Whyte's Evolution Merges With Ryan; Eastern Electrical Sold To EWL For €20m; State VC Programme Struggles For Funds; and more M&A and fundraising activity Accountancy practice FGS has been scaling up through mergers with peer firms. Managing partner Ian Duffy explains the rationale to Business Plus Oliver Freaney Merges With Bigger UK Firm; Corvil Secures €7.6m In VC Funding; Walsh's Delphi Sold To SunGard; Jacob Fruitfield Pays €700,000 For Cisti; Prime Carrier Bought By Browne's Flint; and more Major UK Expansion For Premier Group; Interactive Return Joins Publicis; Hosting 365 Sells Domain Name Unit; Original Solutions Bought By Perot; Paddy Power Buys NI Bookies Chain; McCabe Finds Buyer For Transware NTR Offloads Irish Broadband To Imagine; Insight Test Services Bought By Sogeti; Costello's Novara Sold To Digiweb; Startup Glantel Sold To Magnet; Plus other M&A and fundraising activity Xiam Sold To US Firm For €20.8m; Mangan Brothers Sell Up To BWG; Goodman's IFP Buys Into C&D Foods; UniPhar Buys Two UK Firms; plus more M&A activity Startup company Movidia is developing minimum power techniques for maximum mobile versatility Kleerex Buys Stake In Featureline; Deerac Merges With California Firm; Cape Clear Sold To US Firm Workday; UTV Expands Its Web Activities; Ladbrokes Pays €155m For Eastwood Bookies; and other M&A activity FD Buys K Capital Source; United Drug Pays €21m For JVA; Lir Chocolates Bought By AIM-Listed Zetar; UTV Media Pays €52m For FM104; and more M&A and fundraising activity The credit crunch is bound to impact on M&A activity in 2008 but corporate finance insiders believe good firms will still get bought MBO At Wood Communications; Siteserv In €8m Roankabin Deal; Newcourt Buys Lenmac & BDS Security; JetBird Secures Funding Of €21m; Homan O'Brien Buys Rival CECL; Zamano In €24.4m Red Circle Deal Some SMEs can now raise up to €2m equity funding through the Business Expansion Scheme. But there are strings attached Selling a business should be planned well in advance. A rushed sale seldom reaches the optimum price achievable Matching the right seller to the right buyer can make all the difference in obtaining the greatest value for your business