Closing Remarks on Chinese M&A Activities in Germany

Abstract

Is China taking over Germany? Many German media have been saying so repetitively in recent time. But the reality is the opposite. China’s share of total foreign direct investment stock in Germany accounts for less than one percent as of the end of 2016. More importantly, Chinese acquirers do play a different game than their western counterparts, in that they value and preserve the independence of the acquired firms to a large extent. This means that the German firms are not only contributing to the combined group by providing the Chinese mother companies with their know-hows, but also would gain access to strategic assets provided by the Chinese acquirers. These include financial support and market access to China as well as strategy, vision and even managerial know-hows, under circumstances.