A recent report has shown that mergers and acquisitions(M&A) in South Korea were worth a record high last year.

The Korea Capital Market Institute said the 362 merger deals in South Korea last year were worth 87-point-five billion U.S. dollars, citing tallies from Mergermarket, a London-based financial news firm.

The amount was a record high, placing South Korea third in Asia per the number and volume of M&A deals, behind China and Hong Kong. Deals in China were worth 487 billion dollars last year while deals in Hong Kong were worth about 141 billion dollars.

South Korea’s merger market has grown from 29-point-five billion dollars in 2012 to 35-point-three billion in 2013 and marked 77 billion dollars in 2014. The average annual growth rate came to 43-point-seven percent.

The gross volume and number of deals this year is expected to grow due to the relaxation of M&A regulations on small-scale deals after the National Assembly passed the Special Act on the Corporate Revitalization.