a somewhat breath of fresh air

[satalac 835]

with the economy as it is and the dollar weak, many american companies have been seeing an influx of foreign companies buying them out (anheiser busch for example). chicago based aon has purchased great britain based benfield for $1.6 b in cash. do you think this is the start of things to come in the u.s. or just a kind of one time thing? here is a link to the story

[Lowerdeck 0]

It would go both ways, where there's always American companies buying foreign companies and vice versa. For a little while recently, it was easier for the foreign companies to buy American (see InBev-A.B.) but it still wouldn't rule out an American company from buying overseas as you see with Aon.

[satalac 835]

my biggest concern is that with the euro being so far ahead of the dollar right now, and many corporations becoming hard-up for cash, these types of sales would be happening at a frightening pace. would you think it to be better for american corporations to wait until the dollar gains more ground, or attempt a buyout much like aon did (if they had the cash on hand of course). i know there are many different aspects of corporate buyouts, but i am really interested in this. i don't know a lot about it and am looking forward to everyone's ideas and opinions.

[Lowerdeck 0]

IIRC, and someone correct me if I'm wrong cause I'm young, wasn't there a rush by the Japanese in the late 80s buying up American companies and other interests? The yen was so strong over the dollar back then, it made sense to do it.

[satalac 835]

i think i remember reading about that (sorry, i was born in 83 so i don't remember to well about the economy back then. haha). has it worked out well for them in the long term? i know the yen has dropped some and the nikkei has suffered a bit lately.

[erdogs 0]

I remember when everyone was worried about the Japanese buying up so many American companies, but I also remember hearing they still had a long way to go to catch up with the UK. Corporations don't have boundaries anymore and haven't for a long time. If the dollar comes back, we will see the reverse happen.

[Gard 1]

We will likely see a slowdown in that now. The Euro and Pound are weakening with our economic troubles spreading to Europe and the Dollar is rising, so they are coming more in line again. The UK has taken over a couple banks now to prevent them from melting down and Europe is showing signs of declining use of oil as well, making investors wary of putting any more money in oil futures. As far as AB goes, the beer market worldwide is hurting with the rapid rise in ingredient costs. Companies that are the strongest are snapping up the weaker ones worldwide, resulting in industy consolidation.