China's outbound M&A value hits record high: PwC

BEIJING - The total value of China's outbound mergers and acquisitions in 2012 reached a record-high $65.2 billion, marking a five-fold increase from $10.3 billion in 2008, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report said Wednesday.

Since 2009, China has been leading the trend among emerging markets in carrying out mergers and acquisitions in the markets of developed countries, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total M&A transaction value among emerging markets, including Brazil and India, according to the report.

The M&A of China's state-owned enterprises were mostly concentrated in the energy sector, while privately-owned enterprises in China invested $25.5 billion in outbound M&A in 2012 in the industrial technology and consumer goods sectors, seven times the investment seen in 2008, said the report.

"Chinese enterprises have started to discover a long-term investment mode through M&A, as they aim to incorporate production capacity and upgrade industrial structures to increase their international competitiveness," said Huang Fucheng, a PwC consultant on Chinese overseas investment.

China's three major energy companies -- Sinopec, CNOOC and China National Petroleum Corporation -- closed overseas acquisition deals worth $25.4 billion in 2012, exceeding the value of previous years, according to official data released in early February.