Foreign expansion ambitions to boost China M&A
Buyout activity in China is expected to rise this year, fuelled by overseas acquisitions, says PwC
China's merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is expected to rebound this year, driven mainly by the overseas expansion ambitions of privately owned companies in the retail and consumer goods sector, global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said yesterday.
"Privately owned companies have become mature enough and able to move a step forward to the overseas market. We are expecting more large deals to involve the mainland's private companies," said Nelson Lou, PwC's China advisory services partner.
"Some Chinese consumer goods' companies are interested in buying overseas brands in an effort to strengthen their own brand," he added.
Other sectors, in which competition in the mainland market is fierce, would also likely see more M&A activity, Lou said, citing the carmaking industry as an example. Weakness in the United States and European markets would also provide additional opportunities for M&As in the domestic carmaking industry, he said.
At home, the resources sector would continue to be the focus of M&A activity by the mainland's stated-owned enterprises this year, after a number of large deals in 2012, Lou said.