Bloomberg (April 3)
“Japan Inc. is on track to overtake China in overseas dealmaking for the first time in six years.” According to Bloomberg data, “Japanese companies have announced $26.9 billion of overseas acquisitions this year, compared with $16.5 billion by Chinese buyers.” The reversal is fueled by “a hunt for growth at Japanese firms…at a time when China’s most prolific acquirers have been hobbled by regulatory probes and new outbound investment rules.”
Tags: Acquirers, Acquisitions, China, Dealmaking, Growth, Japan Inc., Outbound investment, Overseas, Regulatory probes, Reversal
Financial Times (May 12)
There’s little obvious business sense to Pfizer’s proposed takeover of AstraZeneca. Strategically, there’s not much to be gained aside from effecting a change of tax domicile. “Pfizer’s dealmaking history is moreover a deeply dispiriting one…. Despite having spent some $240bn on three big acquisitions since 2000, its market capitalisation is just $185bn today. Meanwhile the Dow Jones index is more than 40 per cent higher.” AstraZeneca’s directors must proceed warily. This is about more than the potential short-term profit to existing shareholders.
Tags: Acquisitions, AstraZeneca, Dealmaking, Directors, Dow Jones, Market-cap, Pfizer, Profit, Shareholders, Short term, Strategy, Takeover, Tax domicile
