Acquisitive UK companies fuel strong growth in cross-border M&A - survey |
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Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:51
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LONDON (AFX) - Acquisitive British companies have fuelled a boom in cross-border takeovers and mergers over the past three months, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.UK companies spent a total of 64 bln usd (32.5 bln stg) on overseas mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 174 pct compared with the same period last year, Thomson said.UK cigarette firm Imperial Tobacco's bid for Spanish rival Altadis earlier this month, and this week's launch of merger talks between UK bank Barclays and Dutch counterpart ABN Amro suggests that the trend for aggressive buying of overseas targets by UK companies could continue.According to Thomson, M&A activity within the UK also remained strong in the first quarter. During the period, British companies with a total combined value of 76 bln usd were acquired by UK and foreign buyers, unchanged from the same period last year.Private equity firms' appetite for buyouts also remained undimmed, with the value of private equity-backed deals during the first three months of 2007 coming in at 30.3 bln usd.That represented the second-busiest quarter for the sector on record after the first three months of 2006, when private equity-backed acquisitions worth 40 bln usd were done.AFX News is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thomson Financial.myles.neligan@thomson.commn/bsdCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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