The number of mergers and acquisitions using private-equity investment in Bermuda has rocketed to $3.3 billion, according to a new report.

The deals included one of the top five offshore investments of the year — a $1.5 billion purchase of a minority stake in Fidelis Insurance Holdings by Crestview Partners, CVC Capital Partners, PIne Brook and a mix of individual investors, family offices and institutional investors.

And the average deal value in Bermuda so far this year is $547 million, above the average of $490 million seen across other offshore jurisdictions.

The number of transactions in the first three quarters of this year has already outstripped the full 2014 year.

Bermuda also topped the league for the largest total value of merger and acquisition transactions involving private-equity exits in the first three quarters of the year.

The news came in the latest edition of Offshore-i, prepared by legal services firm Appleby, which looked at transactions in the private-equity industry in offshore markets.

Appleby partner and group head of corporate Tim Faries said: “There have been 92 private-equity transactions worth a combined $56 billion in the first three quarters of 2015, with Bermuda serving as a major contributor to this activity.

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

The six investments in the first nine months of the year alone accounted for 16 per cent of all offshore deal value involving private-equity investment and is already one deal up on the total of five recorded last year.

The Island also saw six exits worth a total value of $19.68 billion in the first three quarters of the year, making it the jurisdiction with the largest aggregate deal value for private-equity exits.

The highest value exit this year was the public takeover of Bermuda-based Freescale Semiconductor in a $16.7 billion deal by Dutch-based NXP Semiconductors.

The Offshore-i report also found that combined private-equity activity represented more than a quarter of the total value of offshore merger and acquisition transactions across jurisdictions the third quarter of this year.

That puts the year on track to generate the biggest annual dollar amount the industry has seen in the past five years.

The third quarter saw $16.1 billion in private equity deals, representing more than a quarter of the $61 billion in total offshore activity.

Appleby partner and global head of private equity Simon Raftopoulos said: “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.”

The information and communication sector, professional services and finance and insurance have all proved popular for offshore investment this year,

The Offshore-i report added: “When it comes to exits, businesses in the finance and insurance sector have proved popular sales for private-equity firms in 2015, with seven businesses offering investment and acquisitions services changing hands during the year so far.”