Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Acquisitions Monthly

France appeals to foreign buyers: the level of foreign acquisitions in France has been consistently low over the past 10 years, according to data from Thomson Reuters. Could recent changes in French takeover law and in social and fiscal policies make acquisitions in France more appealing to foreign buyers?

Article Excerpt
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The proportion of M&A activity involving foreign acquirers is much lower in France than somewhere such as the UK, which is seen by many as the epitome of an open market.

According to Thomson Reuters the value of M&A deals involving foreign acquirers as a proportion of total M&A in France stands at about 7.5% this year.

Even at the peak of the M&A boom in 2007, the proportion of deals by foreign companies (inflows) contributed 28.7% of total M&A, a whisker above the figure for domestic deals at 28.3%, while French acquisitions abroad (outflows) contributed by far the most activity with 43.1%.

The trend is very different to that of the UK market, where the proportion of deals involving foreign acquirers is significantly higher. The data from Thomson Reuters show that in the UK, the proportion of deals from foreign acquirers has consistently exceeded that of domestic deals, and has done so every year for the past 10 years.

The figures seem to suggest that while domestic activity in France is strong and French companies are buying abroad, foreign companies are not attracted to French assets to the same degree.

Thibaut de Monclin, a partner at Aelios Finance, suggests that smaller firms...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!