RIYADH: The Saudi market saw mergers and acquisitions jump 68 percent to 237 applications in the first nine months of 2021 — led by the IT, healthcare and petrochemical sectors according to a Saudi expert. Talal Alhogail, head of mergers and acquisitions at the General Authority for Competition, said the year-on-year comparison shows that it has been an exceptional period for business as it recovers from the pandemic, reported Asharq. He added he expects the high rate to continue into the middle of 2022. In August, the authority approved the merger of 32 companies and local exchange institutions (purchasing and selling foreign currencies). It was one of the largest merger operations in terms of the number of establishments involved in a single deal in its history. The year also saw the merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group under the name of Saudi National Bank. With SR837 billion ($223 billion) in assets, SNB will be Saudi Arabia’s largest bank, accounting for a market share of 25 percent across all metrics. It will be well capitalized with a combined equity of SR120 billion. The combination of the country’s largest with its fourth-largest lender creates a national champion across the board.