German Companies continue their business activity
A rare bright spot in the European economy in recent years, many of the biggest German companies have begun capitalizing on their strength, striking big deals for overseas competitors.
Germany’s businesses have been the rare bright spot in the European economy in recent years, generating jobs and profits even as neighboring countries face persistent unemployment.
Now, many of the biggest German companies are capitalizing on their strength and striking big deals for overseas competitors.
On Sunday, the German engineering conglomerate Siemens announced a $7.6 billion acquisition of the Dresser-Rand Group, the United States oil products company. And on Monday morning, Merck of Germany, the chemical and drug giant, said it would pay $17 billion for Sigma-Aldrich, an American life sciences company.
Those two acquisitions lifted German acquisitions to more than $105 billion for the year, the most since 2007 and the third-highest total in 15 years, according to Thomson Reuters.
“It’s an optimal time to look for big acquisitions, especially with the financing market open and German corporations having strong balance sheets,” Dirk Albersmeier, head of German mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan Chase in Frankfurt, said in an email. “So C.E.O.s are asking, ‘Why not do it now?’ ”
“Despite all the political turmoil going on in Eastern Europe and the rest of the world, the overall business confidence has not been affected much here in Germany,” Mr. Brandi said.
“All of them are strategic acquisitions,” Mr. Brandi said of the recent German deals.
“This is nothing like what we’ve seen from some of the U.S. acquisitions that are driven more by taxes.”
Source: NYT- German Companies Continue their business activity
