NEW AGE: While it is wise to expand export markets, firms should also adjust their product mixes and create succession plans as executives age, PwC Taiwan said

Taipei Times
Date: May 23, 2019
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) surged 42 percent last year with the total transaction value spiking 75 percent, as firms expanded to new overseas markets to cope with global protectionism, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said yesterday.

The number of M&A deals rose from 81 to 115, while transactions increased from US$6.15 billion to US$10.74 billion, PwC Taiwan’s annual M&A report showed.

The trade dispute between the US and China drove Taiwanese firms to diversify production lines beyond China to avoid tariffs imposed by Washington on Chinese goods, Lily Wong (翁麗俐), managing director of deals services at PwC Taiwan, told a forum in Taipei.

“Risk diversification provided the catalyst for M&A activity last year and may continue to do so this year and beyond,” Wong said.    [FULL  STORY]