The Cayman Islands maintained its standing as the primary target of offshore M&A transactions in the first half of 2016, representing one third of all deals and accounting for 40 percent of total value, according to a report by law firm Appleby.
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, focuses on transactions announced during the first half of 2016.
Following a record-setting 2015, the number and value of offshore M&A deals fell in the first half of 2016 to levels more familiar prior to last year’s boom, according to the report.
“Cayman remained the leader in offshore deal volume and value in the first half of this year, despite numbers being down from the highs we saw in 2015,” said Simon Raftopoulos, partner and group head of Appleby’s private equity practice in the Cayman Islands.
“Cayman was also home to four of the 10 biggest deals of the half, including three in the technology sector, which enjoyed a particularly robust start to the year.”
In the first six months of the year, Cayman-incorporated companies were the target in 459 transactions worth a combined $41bn. The value represented more than twice the amount of the next closest jurisdiction, the British Virgin Islands, while Hong Kong was second to Cayman in terms of deal volume with 263 transactions.
Appleby, Cayman Islands, Funds, M&A, Law, Regulation, Simon Raftopoulos, British Virgin Islands, Asia-Pacific
