Israeli private equity deal-making in the first nine months of 2016 has hit $3.26 billion, thus exceeding the entire 2015’s $3.22 billion, according to a new IVC and Shibolet report.

In the third quarter of this year, the report shows that Israeli private equity deal-making rose to $1.7 billion in 18 deals, the highest quarterly amount in the past two years. The amount was 32 percent above the $1.3 billion reached in the previous quarter and over four times the $358 million achieved in the third quarter of 2015.

“We are experiencing an annual volume increase even before year-end. This figure is highly influenced by single oversized deals, like the Keter buyout, but this is always the case in private equity markets – there are always few very large deals alongside much smaller ones. Rather than a one-off deal, we regard the Keter transaction as a credibility reaffirmation of the local market by the international PE industry,” said Omer Ben-Zvi, Partner at Shibolet law firm, referring to the buyout of Keter Plastic by BC Partners for $1.4 billion.

“Despite the instability in world economy and concerns for a potential slowdown, we believe that the local PE market is healthy and still benefits from a growth potential,” Ben-Zvi said.

The IVC-Online Database maintains data on 37 active Israeli private equity management companies with a total of $11.3 billion under management. In the first nine months of 2016, five Israeli private equity funds raised $1.72 billion, and three additional funds are currently in process of capital raising.