European buyers go shopping for US companies

© Keatanan Viya

In the first four months of 2018, European firms have spent some $47bn acquiring US companies. This, the Wall Street Journal says, is the highest spend between the two regions since 2006 and almost $10bn up on what was spent over the same period last year. Driven by lower taxes and favourable foreign exchange rates, the boom in US acquisitions may bode well for European forwarders looking to expand. However, it should be noted these deals aren’t for the faint-hearted. While the spend may have gone up, the number of buys has gone down: 113 fewer US targets were acquired in the four-month period compared with 2017, indicating the deals done were on the large side.

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