Appleby has released its latest Offshore-i report on transactions for the first quarter of 2015.

Offshore-i provides insightful data about M&A and IPO activity going on in the major offshore jurisdictions around the globe, where we do the majority of our business.

The key themes emerging from the report show that in the first quarter of 2015:

  • There were 537 deals in the quarter, the lowest quarter by deal volume since the start of 2008. The total is likely to edge higher with late reporting of deals.
  • The value of deals was USD68.3bn, almost identical to the previous quarter and before that topped only a handful of times in the past 10 years. With value the same and more than 150 fewer deals than Q4 2014, average deal size is up to USD127m, one of the highest we have seen.
  • This is the fifth quarter in the last six to record more than 10 deals worth more than a billion-dollars, after only four such quarters in the preceding decade. There were 14 billion-dollar deals in total in Q1 2015, including five deals worth in excess of USD4bn each.
  • The financial and insurance activities sector was once again on top, thanks to three insurance-related deals featuring in the top 10 for the quarter. Deal value remains widely dispersed with 14 subsectors showing cumulative deal activity worth more than USD1bn.
  • Capital increases are the most popular deal type, closely followed by acquisitions, which similarly represent about a third of total deal volume. Acquisitions dominate by deal value.
  • As usual, the Cayman Islands dominated deal volumes as the top target, accounting for a quarter of all deals done offshore. Bermuda, the BVI and Hong Kong were largely level-pegging behind, while in value terms, Bermuda leads the way with a cumulative deal value of USD19bn, thanks to some large insurance deals.
  • Q1 was one of the busiest quarters ever for outbound deals involving offshore acquirers, with 542 outbound deals worth USD84.7bn, a sum that makes it the second biggest quarter yet recorded. Deal value jumped 32% from the previous quarter, which was part of a record-breaking 2014.
  • The offshore region remains ranked sixth in the world by deal volume for Q1 2015, and stays in fourth for value activity. By average deal size the region rose to second worldwide, behind only North America, as a result of the run of megadeals using offshore jurisdictions.

Read the summary version of the report here. To request a copy of the full report please email us, include your name and organisation.

Visit our dedicated Offshore-i website, including previous summary reports, here.

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