By: Pedro Goncalves From International Investment

Offshore deals down 10% in the first half of the year

The Cayman Islands saw more mergers and acquisition transactions than any other offshore jurisdiction in the first half of 2018 as Jersey took the number one spot in terms of total value, according to a report.

A total of 1,344 offshore M&A deals recorded in the first half of this year meant a 10% decline compared to the last six months of 2017.

However, the total deal value of $216bn marked a 68% jump over the second half of last year, according to the latest edition of Offshore-i, an Appleby report that provides data and insight on merger and acquisition activity in the major offshore financial centres.

Jersey saw a 6% increase in deal activity as well as a 411% increase in deal value driven by the $62bn acquisition of Jersey-incorporated Shire PLC by Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical – the largest offshore transaction of the first six months of the year.

Cayman-incorporated companies were the target of 421 transactions worth a combined $60.9bn in the first half of 2018. This represented 31% of all offshore deals and 28% of total offshore deal value during that time.

Transactions were down 9% from the second half of 2017, while deal value was up 49%.

The higher deal value is caused by Cayman being the home to four of the 10 largest offshore deals in the first six months of the year.

However, more money was spent on merger and acquisition transactions in Jersey than any other offshore jurisdiction in the first half of 2018.

Jersey-incorporated companies were the subject of 75 deals in the first six months of 2018, together worth $69.86bn. The jurisdiction was also home to two of the 10 biggest offshore deals of the half-year period: the Shire acquisition and the $5.08bn acquisition of business-to-business event organizer UBM by Informa.

Outbound transactions, in which offshore companies acquire companies onshore, reached combined value of $187bn in 1,640 deals during the first six months.

Companies in China, the US and the UK were the main targets followed by Australia and Singapore. Western Europe also saw a high concentration of billion-dollar deals with Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland and the UK all recipients of high-value offshore attention.

The Offshore-i report covers all deal types except joint ventures and share buybacks in Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Mauritius and Seychelles.

For more on this story go to: http://www.internationalinvestment.net/business-development/offshore-deals-down-10-in-the-first-half-of-the-year/