Companies are more likely to make larger, equity- and debt-funded acquisitions over the next year as chief executive officers become more confident of an economic recovery, according to consulting firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young).

About 35 percent of global executives surveyed by the company formerly known as Ernst & Young are planning acquisitions in the next 12 months, up from 25 percent a year earlier, EY said in a report published Monday. Just 11 percent of those surveyed anticipate economic decline in the period, the lowest proportion in two years.

About $1.85 trillion in takeovers have been announced this year, led by Vodafone Group Plc’s $130 billion sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile operator. That’s up from about $1.77 trillion in the same period in 2012.

“Barring any further significant economic or geo-political shocks, we should see the resuscitation of a global M&A market,” Pip McCrostie, EY’s global vice-chair for transaction advisory, said in a statement. “Sentiments are being buoyed by a much more positive view of deal fundamentals.”

Some 19 percent of executives who responded to the survey are interested in making deals valued between $501 million and $1 billion, more than double the percentage who said the same six months ago, EY said.