China M&A flurry drives cross-border activity to 11-year high

By Anjuli Davies

LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Worldwide cross-border mergers andacquisitions activity has hit $132.7 billion so far in 2016, up31 percent compared with a year ago and the strongestyear-to-date period since 2006, driven by Chinese acquisitions,Thomson Reuters data shows.

ChemChina agreed to buy Swiss seeds and pesticides groupSyngenta this week for $43 billion, the largest-ever foreignpurchase by a Chinese firm and the biggest-everChinese-involvement M&A deal, according to the data.

Chinese acquisitions abroad now account for 47 percent ofoverall cross-border activity so far this year, comprising fourof the top six cross-border deals.

After hitting a record high in 2015, worldwide M&A activityhas got off to a sluggish start, down 22 percent compared withthe same period last year, totalling $241 billion.

Falling oil prices and worries about slowing growth in Chinahas spooked markets in January causing volatile swings acrossasset classes and could make corporate boards more cautious onpulling the trigger on big M&A transactions.

That volatility has also dragged down the pace of new globalequity offerings, which are down 45 percent compared with a yearago, totalling just $33 billion, the lowest year-to-date levelfor ECM activity in eight years.

HSBC, has moved into third position in the M&Aleague tables after advising ChemChina on its blockbuster deal,trailing Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan in first andsecond place.

(Reporting by Anjuli Davies; editing by Susan Thomas)