Total insurance industry merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in December 2019 worth $12.92 billion were announced globally, according to GlobalData’s deals database.

The value marked an increase of 470.5 percent over the previous month and a rise of 336.3 percent when compared with the last 12-month average, which stood at $2.96 billion.

Comparing deal value in different regions of the globe, North America held the top position, with total announced deals in the period worth $8.27 billion. At the country level, the U.S. topped the list in terms of deal value at $8.27 billion.

In terms of volume, North America emerged as the top region for insurance industry M&A deals globally, followed by Europe and then Asia-Pacific.

The top country in terms of M&A deals activity in December 2019 was the U.S. with 31 deals, followed by the UK with eight and France with four.

In 2019, as of the end of December, insurance M&A deals worth $43.63 billion were announced globally, marking a decrease of 50.1 percent year on year.

The top five insurance industry M&A deals accounted for 99.6 percent of the overall value during December 2019. The combined value of the top five insurance M&A deals stood at $12.87 billion, against the overall value of $12.92 billion recorded for the month.

According to GlobalData, the top five insurance industry deals of December 2019 were:

• New York Life Insurance’s $6.3 billion asset transaction with Cigna
• The $4.27 billion acquisition of ReAssure Group by Phoenix Group Holdings
• Resolution Life Holdings’ $1.25 billion asset transaction with Voya Financial
• The $720 million acquisition of IAS Parent Holdings by IA Financial Group
• Intesa Sanpaolo’s acquisition of RBM Assicurazione Salute for $333.73 million

*This story ran previously in our sister publication Insurance Journal.