Mergermarket, the world’s leading news and intelligence service for mergers and acquisitions, has announced key trends and deals in the Saudi M&A (merger & acquisitions) in the run-up to its “Saudi Arabia M&A Capital Markets Forum” at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel on Wednesday.

Debtwire, Margermarket’s sister company, also released its Q1-Q3 findings for the Saudi Arabian market activity this year.

The Saudi healthcare market posted a record-breaking deal of $294 million, bolstered by UAE-based Aster DM Healthcare’s $264 million takeover of a 57percen t stake in Sanad Hospital.

The fourth largest deal of the year saw another UAE buyer, Amanat Holdings, take a 35 percent stake in Sukoon International Holding.

According to Mergermarket intelligence, Saudi healthcare and life sciences investment firm, ReAya Holding, which this year acquired a majority stake in Riyadh-based polyclinic and pharmacy chain Metrek, is actively evaluating further deals in the healthcare sector.

Ruth McKee Al-Ghamdi, Mergermarket head for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, said, during a roundtable briefing at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel “By deal count, the only sector that has stood firm since 2014 is Industrials & Chemicals. We’ve seen four transactions in this sector, matching the number for the same period in 2014 but with a significantly lower total value of $18 million, compared with $37 million last year.”

Mergermarket has also identified rumors of a major potential cross border being prepared by Savola Group and Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek to acquire a majority stake in Kuwait’s Americana Group, believed to have been valued at about $4 billion.

Anil Menon, MENA M&S and IPO leader of EY, commented, “This is a very interesting time for the Saudi M&A market. Broader structuring options are becoming available and there’s been increased receptivity to work with these new options.”