British companies look to overseas acquisitions

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), British companies spent a total of £30 billion on foreign acquisitions in the first half of 2011.

Although there was a sharp 51 per cent fall in the value of transactions between quarter one and two, the six-month total was larger than any seen in 2009 or 2010. Furthermore, the £10.2 billion spent in the second quarter was still the second highest quarterly expenditure since the start of 2008.

A handful of large transactions were largely behind the money spent in quarter two, including the buying of oil drilling company Pride International by its London-based competitor Ensco, and the investment vehicle Horizon Acquisition Company's purchase of APR Energy.

A spokesman for the ONS said the figures seemed to suggest a slight recovery from the doldrums of the economic crisis, but that it was "too early to see if this was a long-term trend".

Source: Telegraph.co.uk