From Offshore Bankers

The number of M&A transactions involving Private Equity (PE) investment in Bermuda in the first three quarters of this year has already eclipsed that seen in all of 2014,according to a report released today by Appleby, one of the world’s largest providers of offshore legal and administrative services.

Bermuda was also the offshore jurisdiction to see the largest total value of M&A transactions involving PE exits in the first three quarters of 2015.

The findings are included in a sector spotlight edition of Appleby’s Offshore-i report, which looks specifically at the transactions taking place in the PE industry in offshore markets in the year to date.

The report provides analysis of private equity investment activity in the form of buyouts, and exits, whether via initial public offerings, sales to other private equity firms, or trade sales.

“There have been 92 private equity transactions worth a combined USD56bn in the first three quarters of 2015, with Bermuda serving as a major contributor to this activity,” said Tim Faries, Partner and Group Head of Corporate in Bermuda.

“The jurisdiction has already seen a rise in the number of PE investments over 2014, and the biggest PE exit so far in 2015 took place in Bermuda.”

With three months left in the year, the six PE investment deals in Bermuda already represent an increase over the five seen in 2014.

These six deals were worth a cumulative value of USD3.3bn, or 16% of all offshore deal value involving PE investments this year, and included one of the top five offshore investments of the year – the USD1.5bn acquisition by CVC Capital Partners LTD Investors of a minority stake of Fidelis Insurance Holdings Ltd.

The average deal value of PE investments in Bermuda so far this year is USD547m, above the average of USD490m seen across offshore jurisdictions.

Bermuda also saw six exits worth a total value of USD19.86bn in the first three quarters of 2015, making it the jurisdiction with the largest aggregate deal value for PE exits, the report found. In the highest value exit this year, Bermuda-based Freescale Semiconductor was the target in a USD16.7bn public takeover by NXP Semiconductors of the Netherlands.

Offshore PE activity on track for recent high

Combined PE activity represented over a quarter of the total value of offshore M&A transactions across jurisdictions in the third quarter of 2015, putting it on pace to generate the biggest annual dollar amount the industry has seen in the past five years, the report found.

The third quarter of 2015 alone saw USD16.1bn in PE deals, representing over a quarter of the USD61bn of total offshore activity.

“The total sum of 2015 investments is likely to end up topping anything seen in the previous five years, with more private equity money chasing a limited supply of companies resulting in even higher valuations,” said Simon Raftopoulos, a partner and global head of private equity at Appleby.

Three sectors are dominating offshore investment activity by PE firms this year, with Information & Communication, Professional Services and Finance & Insurance all proving highly popular with buyout funds when they are shopping offshore, according to the report.

When it comes to exits, businesses in the Finance & Insurance sector have proved popular sales for PE firms in 2015, with seven businesses offering investment and acquisitions services changing hands during the year so far.

For more on this story go to: http://www.offshore-bankers.net/article/22753/bermuda-among-busiest-jurisdictions-for-offshore-private-equity-deals

IMAGE: Bermuda en.wikipedia.org