Bermuda companies accounted for $7.86 billion worth of deals in the second quarter of this year amid rising global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, it was revealed yesterday.

The total of 88 transactions on the Island averaged out at $89 million per deal — with two of the quarter’s top 12 deals.

But the numbers represent a drop in activity compared to the previous quarter — although globally the quarter recorded one of the highest levels of transactions for a decade.

The figures were contained in the latest report on offshore business released by legal firm Appleby.

Global M&A amounted to a total of 632 deals worth a total of $80.9 billion for the second quarter — close to the 632 deals carried out in the first quarter.

Appleby partner and global head or corporate and commercial Cameron Adderley said: “Companies appear to be putting more money to work on offshore deals and an upward trajectory is gathering momentum.”

And Appleby added that the anticipated $6 billion sell-off of Bermuda-incorporated Triton Container International by private equity firm owners Warburg Pincus and Vestar Capltal Partners was “on the horizon”.

Founded in 1980, Triton has a roughly 15 percent share of the global leased fleet market and a network of more than 200 independent depots, according to Warburg Pincus’ website.

The Appleby Offshore-i report said: “The bulk of Offshore-i focuses on international acquirers buying offshore assets, but the report also examines outbound deals in which an offshore jurisdiction acted as an acquirer.

“Bermuda-domiciled companies were the acquirer in 58 second quarter deals, up from 55 in the previous quarter.

“The deals’ combined worth was $8.03 billion and included two of the quarter’s largest outbound deals.”

Appleby partner and group head of corporate and commercial Timothy Faries said: “The second quarter saw a record-breaking $84 billion worth of outbound deals done by offshore businesses, the highest quarterly amount reported in a decade.

“Bermuda was an important player as companies based in this jurisdiction pursued growth opportunities further afield.”

The world total of second quarter deals done across offshore jurisdictions went up by 23 percent compared to the first three months of the year.

And the Appleby report said that — as the first half of the year tends to be quieter, it was “encouraging” news for the remainder of the year.

The average global deal size was $128 million — the highest in the past decade, except for the final quarter of 2012, when a single $6 billion transaction caused a spike.

Half of the top ten deals across the world involved online businesses, with information and communication the strongest sector, replacing financial and insurance for the first time since the end of 2012.

There were 14 transactions with more than $1 billion in the second quarter, up from four in the same quarter last year, with four deals worth more than $2 billion each.

The most popular deals were minority stake transactions, which accounted for more than half of the offshore transactions around the world.

And there were 52 debut listings announced or completed by offshore companies around the world in the second quarter, compared to 34 in the first quarter and 39 in the same period in 2013.