The total value of announced mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals with a disclosed value in the Mena region increased by 105 per cent to $10bn in the third quarter of this year, from $4.9bn during the same period of 2017, according to a report by EY.

The top five target sectors were:

• Oil and gas ($1.4bn)
• Chemicals ($500m)
• Diversified industrial products ($300m)
• Real estate ($300m)
• Consumer products ($300m)

EY’s Q3 Mena M&A report also says that the volume of deals remained consistent year-on-year, with 107 deals announced during the third quarter of this year compared with the same period of 2017, a decrease of 3 per cent.

Deals in the GCC totalled $7.9bn, or 79 per cent of the total value of Mena deals. The GCC also accounted for 73 per cent of deal volume with 78 M&A deals.

The value of cross-border deals increased fivefold to $9bn in the third quarter of 2018 compared with $1.5bn in the third quarter of 2017. Outbound deals increased from $1.5bn in the third quarter of 2017 to $6.4bn in the third quarter of this year, and inbound deals grew from $28.6m during the third quarter of 2017 to $2.6bn in the third quarter of this year.

Sovereign wealth funds played a leading role in cross-border deals, with $2.5bn of deals in the third quarter of this year compared with $300m in the third quarter of 2017. The acquisition of Netherlands-based chemicals company Arlanxeo Holding for $1.6bn by Saudi Aramco was the largest deal of the third quarter of 2018.

While the value of cross-border deals grew, the value of domestic deals dropped from $3.3bn in the third quarter of 2017 to $1bn in the third quarter of this year.