Related News

Home » Business » Finance

Chinese outbound M&As surge 36% to $20.2b in 1st quarter

OUTBOUND mergers and acquisitions by Chinese enterprises maintained a record-breaking momentum in the first quarter as private enterprises have emerged as a main force, a report said today.

In the first three months of the year, transaction value of China’s outbound deals surged 36 percent to a historical high of US$20.2 billion, according to a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers today.

The number of deals also increased by 33 percent year on year to a record-high of 77, with private-owned enterprises accounting for 68 percent of the deals, said the report.

“The upward trend is expected to continue through the year to break records set in 2014 as the government has been more explicitly facilitating outbound investment,” Andrew Li, PwC Central China advisory leader, said at a media conference.

In 2014, there were 246 outbound deals, up 32 percent from a year earlier, with transaction value totaling US$55 billion despite of a lack of mega-deals, data showed. The growth was boosted by low interest rates and a revival in China’s stock market, the report said.

Value of deals sealed by private companies rose 94 percent last year while state-owned enterprises posted the first-ever decline of 48 percent, the report showed.

“High technology, telecommunications and retail were the top popular sectors among private firms as they were seeking technology, intellectual property and brands back to China,” Li said.

The accounting firm expected that China’s One Belt and One Road program will bring further changes to the country’s outbound M&A trend including changes in investment destinations and investment industries.

The US and Europe continued to be the top destinations for Chinese buyers last year, with Asia coming in third with a 90 percent surge in deal numbers. PwC expected that Chinese investors will increasingly tap into developing countries in Eurasia region to capitalize on China’s multinational economic development plan.

“Key investment industries have been changed to infrastructure and related industries from former industries such as mining, technology and machine manufacture,” said Jenny Chong, tax service leader of PwC Asia Pacific, “One Belt and One Road is bringing new trend that SOEs will lead infrastructure projects and private firms will follow on developing manufacturer projects.”  




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend