According to a new report by law firm Appleby, Jersey recorded a total of 141 deals valued at $82billion (£62.1billion) – a 297% increase in value over 2017.
The island was also home to the highest value offshore deal announced in 2018: Takeda Pharmaceutical’s $58.5billion (£44.3billion) acquisition of Jersey-incorporated Shire PLC.
Pictured: Jersey was home to the highest value offshore deal last year.
The findings come in the latest edition of Offshore-i, which provides data on merger and acquisition activity in the major offshore financial centres, shows that while the total number of deals dipped when compared to 2017, value was up significantly.
Wendy Benjamin, Partner and Group Head of Appleby’s Corporate Department in Jersey, commented on the figures, saying: “Not only did Jersey see a significant increase in total deal value in 2018, the jurisdiction had the largest average deal size of any offshore jurisdiction and accounted for nearly a quarter of the total amount spent on offshore companies over the course of the year.
“When looking at the offshore region as a whole, the amount spent in 2018 was USD 344 billion, over USD 100 billion more than 2017 and the second highest annual figure on record.”