Law firm Appleby, which has an office in Douglas, has issued a report which shows a healthy boom in merger and acquisition activity in major offshore financial centres in the last quarter of 2013.



Its latest Offshore-I report says in the three month period, the Isle of Man witnessed 28 deals with a value of around ?900 million, including the sale of minority stakes in oil production business Exillon Energy.


Those transactions represent a 97% increase in deals targeting the Isle of Man during the previous quarter.


Year on year, 2013 quarter 4 activity in the Isle of Man was up a massive 698% on 2012.


The firm says the figures reflect the trend seen across offshore centres around the world.”