ASIALINKS DAILY VIEW
Doosan's Takeover of Bobcat
Puts South Korea in Deals Race
By PAUL LUPINACCI
South Korean companies, which have long resisted making big purchases
overseas, are starting to lace up their deal boots and join the global
M&A fray. Doosan Infracore's $4.9 billion acquisition of the Bobcat
construction-vehicle business from Ingersoll-Rand may give other South
Korean companies the confidence to pursue big-ticket overseas buyouts and
could be a turning point for the country's conglomerates.
Although it's still too early to say whether other South Korean
companies will follow suit, the deal comes as South Korean business and
government leaders are divided by the prospect that several prominent Korean
companies, such as Hynix Semiconductor and Daewoo Shipbuilding, may be
acquired by foreign investors when the government cuts its stakes in
those firms.
Doosan's emergence on the global scene is the latest example of
companies from nations like Australia and Mexico buying up firms from the U.S.
and Europe. And with private-equity buyers likely to have to sit out
of deal making for a few months because of tighter credit and
more-cautious equity markets, these buyers could play an increasing role.
Read Evan Ramstad and Dennis Berman's report on Doosan's jump into the
global mergers market:
online.wsj.com
I have not posted the article from the above URL ( online subscription required). If anyone wants to see it, though, I shall post it, even though it is not on South Korea, I assume.
Lynn |
