Chinese firms see overseas M&A hit record high

Chinese firms conducted 207 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) overseas in 2011, a record high and up 10 percent from 2010, international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in a recent report.

The total value of those overseas M&A transactions rose 12 percent year-on-year to 42.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, PwC said.

Of the transactions, 16 were worth more than 1 billion U.S. dollars, up from 12 in 2010 and including 14 deals in the natural resources and energy sectors, the report said.

Chinese companies recorded strong growth in both overseas and domestic M&A activities as well as large-value private equity investment deals in 2011, the report also noted.

A total of 5,364 M&A transactions were disclosed to have been conducted by Chinese enterprises in 2011, a record high and 5 percent more than the previous year, according to the report.