The volume of merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in Turkey reached $9 billion (TL 66.323 billion) in 2020, said audit and consulting giant Deloitte Turkey on Monday.

Last year, the M&A volume increased by 70% on an annual basis, while a total of 304 M&A transactions – a historic high – were seen in 2020, the consulting firm said in a press release.

Kıvanç Çıdam, a financial expert from Deloitte Turkey, said after a decline in M&A transactions in 2019, the record number of transactions in 2020 showed that investors’ interest in Turkey increased significantly.

Highlighting that mega transactions constitute 40% of the total volume, the press release recalled that the country’s first “unicorn,” Peak Games, was purchased by U.S.-based mobile gaming giant Zynga for $1.8 billion, and the Turkey Wealth Fund acquired all shares of public insurance companies for TL 6.54 billion to consolidate them under a single roof.

Güneş Sigorta, Halk Sigorta, Ziraat Sigorta, Vakıf Emeklilik ve Hayat, Halk Hayat ve Emeklilik and Ziraat Hayat ve Emeklilik were merged under a single roof and continue under Turkey Insurance and Turkey Life Pension, which was launched on Sept. 7.

During 2020, 82 M&A transactions were made by foreigners worth $4.6 billion, the release stressed, and added that interest from foreign investors, which made up 51% of the total transactions in Turkey, continued during the pandemic.

Even though the foreigners’ total transaction volume came in below the 10-year average, it surged 35% year-on-year.

Among foreign investors, European investors made 47 transactions worth $1.2 billion, followed by investors from North America (13 transactions), and from Qatar (four transactions).

The total value of the transactions that included Turkish investors doubled to reach $4.4 billion. The 222 acquisitions marked a 37% year-on-year rise.

The release also said that the startup economy continued to improve in Turkey last year when 134 transactions worth $200 million were made by venture capital and angel investors.