Chinese mainland enterprises sealed a record 257 merger and acquisition deals in the first three quarters of 2015, surpassing the total for the whole of last year, a report showed on Wednesday.
The number of M&A deals surged 46 percent from the same period of last year while the deal value rose just 5 percent year on year to US$45.1 billion, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in the report.
PwC attributed the increase to the Chinese government actively facilitating outbound investment and a favorable market environment.
"From a financing perspective, easy monetary policies, low interest rates and reserve ratios, and a significant surge in China's stock markets in the first half of 2015 have helped to drive deals," said Andrew Li, PwC China advisory services leader.
Listed companies led the mainland's outbound M&A deals, with the number of deals sealed by them taking up 62 percent of the total in the first three quarters, data showed.
Privately owned enterprises continued to be a key driver as they sealed 167 deals, more than three times that of state-owned enterprises for the period.
"Privately owned enterprises' outbound activities covered a wide range of sectors with investors searching overseas manufacturers with advanced technology, consumer companies with brand and customer assets and media and entertainment companies with focus on lifestyle improvement," Li noted.
SOEs sealed $23 billion in M&As due to mega deals, compared with $14.5 billion for private companies, the report said.
PwC predicted outbound M&A activities will continue in the fourth quarter and next year.
