Which sectors are the most active in the M&A scene?

Energy sector knocks off real estate as the top notcher in 2016.

For the past year, the energy and the power industry took the lead for M&A activity, accounting for 31.1% of the market share worth US$22.1b, up 262.3% from 2015.

According to the data from Thomson Reuters, this is the highest-ever annual period for the sector in terms of deal value.

"This was bolstered by the pending stake acquisition in Essar Oil Ltd by Petrol Complex Pte Ltd of Singapore, a unit of Rosneft, and a consortium of Trafigura and United Capital Partners in two separate transactions with a combined value of US$12.9b," the report said, noting that this is the biggest any Singaporean involvement deal for the past year and the second largest deal on record for the overall Singapore M&A activity.

The energy and power sector knocked off real estate, which fell behind in second place and captured 18.9% market share worth US$13.5b, down 21.2% from 2015.

To recall, Singaporean state-owned GIC Pte Ltd definitively agreed to acquire PointPark Properties (P3 Logistic Parks) from TPG Real Estate, a unit of TPG Capital LP, and Ivanhoe Cambridge Inc for US$2.7b, in a secondary buyout transaction.

Meanwhile, the industrials sector rounded out the top three targeted industry, capturing 14.0% of the acquisitions involving Singaporean companies. In June, BOC Aviation Ltd, ultimately owned by state-owned Bank of China, completed its spin-off to its shareholders in a deal valued at $3.8b, pushing the deal making activity in the sector.