A $2.4 billion deal to take over a telecoms company was the biggest deal struck in Bermuda in the last quarter of 2013, a top law firm said yesterday.

The buyout of CSL New World Mobility by Caymans-based HKT was the chart topper in a quarter that saw a total of $15.3 billion in Bermuda deals done.

The figure is 132 percent up on the previous quarter and up more than half on the same period in 2012.

The news came in the Offshore-i report from global offshore legal firm Appleby.

Timothy Faries, Appleby partner and group head of corporate and commercial, said: “The scope of deals consummated in Q4 sweep across the entire array of the commercial spectrum, not just Bermuda’s strengths such as insurance or shipping and reflect the continued restoration of general commercial activity which had been slowly recovering in recent times following the financial challenges of the latter part of the last decade.

“These results are testament to Bermuda’s return to strength as a jurisdiction with enterprises which are attractive to investors.”

Bermuda logged 116 deals in the later part of 2013, including the Alford Financial purchase of Bermuda-based Alliance Oil Company for $1.2 billion.

Across all jurisdictions, the fourth quarter saw more deals done than in any other period of the year, a total of more than 600 and the year ended with $151 billion of business done — an annual total topped only three times in the last decade.

Cameron Adderley, Appleby partner and global head of corporate and commercial, said: “While the final quarter of the year is typically the busiest, every one of the principal indicators has progressively improved.

“Indeed, the global mergers and acquisitions environment is fragile and to a certain extent lacks depth, but we can’t help but view these year-end numbers as positive.”

The offshore sector ranked sixth among world regions for deal volume in the final quarter of 2013, fifth for deal value and third for average deal size.

Only North America and South and Central America notched up higher deal averages.

The total value of deals across jurisdictions in Q4 was $47.9 billion, up 32 percent on the previous quarter.

The average deal size was $79 million and has only been topped in three quarters in the last four years.

There were 11 deals which topped the $1 billion mark in the quarter, almost double the number in Q3, including two deals worth more than $2 billion each, with energy and natural resources heavily featured.

But financial services and insurance were still the most active sectors, while mining, quarrying and manufacturing were also popular.

The frequency of buying activity by offshore companies continues to grow, with a combined value of $37.8 billion in Q4, one of the largest amounts for several years.

The largest type of deal worldwide was a minority stake — but outright acquisitions continued to grow and were the biggest deal type by value, making up almost half of the total spent in the last quarter of 2013.