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Foreign acquisitions by UK companies lowest since records began

Published on 2 Mar 2010 under category: legal

UK companies' spending abroad is at the lowest level reported since official records began in 1987, with expenditure on foreign acquisitions falling from £2.5 billion in July last year to £0.9 billion by December 2009, according to a new report.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed today (March 2nd) that foreign expenditure on acquisitions in the UK grew from £4 billion from July to £13.8 billion at the end of 2009, while UK spending was substantially reduced.

Only 99 foreign countries were acquired by UK businesses last year.
Overall, the total value of acquisitions was £12.1 billion – the lowest level since 1994.

Companies here concentrated their resources on spending in the Americas, making acquisitions worth around £4.9 billion – equivalent to 50 per cent of their total spending across the globe.

Foreign companies based in Asia, Australasia, Oceania and Africa spent collectively around £0.3 billion on acquisitions in the UK, accounting for around one per cent of the total value spent on mergers and acquisitions in 2009.

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