The volume of disclosed merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in Turkey has jumped by 61 percent year-on-year to reach $7.4 billion in 2017, an audit and consultancy firm said yesterday.

Ernst & Young (EY) Turkey's report showed that a total of 251 M&A transactions were sealed last year, up by 3 percent compared to 2016.

Total transaction volume is expected to hit $10 billion in 2017 if non-disclosed transactions are also included, EY Turkey said. It noted that despite political and economic uncertainties in country and region, Turkish economy registered a strong growth performance with the help of the measures taken by the government.

The number of M&A was flat while its volume saw a year-on-year rise in 2017, it said. The report revealed that the volume of deals by foreign investors advanced by 84 percent year-on-year to hit $4.6 billion last year, which constituted 62 percent of total transaction volume. Despite foreign interest in M&A transactions rose year-on-year in 2017 compared to the previous year, the transaction volume was below its potential, it said. The number of deals sealed by foreign and Turkish investors was 78 and 173, respectively.

Turkish investors constituted 38 percent of total M&A volume with $2.8 billion last year. The U.S. recorded the highest number of deals while the Netherlands had largest transaction volume in 2017.

France, Luxemburg, the UAE were other prominent countries in terms of transaction numbers. The energy and transportation sectors drew investor interest the most with a total transaction value of $2.9 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.

The highest number of M&A deals was recorded at the informatics sector - 75 transactions. Acquisition of all shares of Petrol Ofisi by the Netherlands-based Vitol from Austria's OMV was the biggest transaction of the year at more than $1.4 billion.