M&A Investment
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) on March 15, US$2.1208 billion of promised foreign M&A investment had arrived in January and February this year, which is 92.7 percent of the US$2.288 billion in total in the first quarter of last year. Consequently, March is expected to see even more foreign investment to arrive in Korea to round out the quarter.
In particular, a single foreign investment of US$1.836 billion arrived here in January from Europe for manufacturing. The MOTIE pointed it out as an example showing that Korea has become a large enough investment market to attract such a single investment, making it part of the top five investment-favorable economies in the world.
The reported M&A amount last year was US$7.981 billion, and out of that, US$5.152 billion actually arrived last year. The difference of US$2.829 billion had not yet shown up by the end of fiscal year. US$2.1208 billion from 29 investments among the non-arrival amount arrived one after another until February, including the US$1.836 billion in January.
In particular, the M&A report amount last year reached US$7.981 billion, a 60.3 percent increase from the previous year's US$4.979 billion reported. The money that actually arrived (US$5.152 billion) was greater as well, up 24.9 percent from the US$4.126 billion in 2013, showing a general rising curve for M&A investment.
Breaking the January to February foreign M&A investments down by industry US$1.9654 billion went to manufacturing, US$415.5 million to services, and US$149.1 million to other industries. Breaking the money down by country of origin, the U.S. contributed US$33.6 million, followed by Japan with US$121.7 million, the E.U. with US$2.0421 billion, China with US$21.7, the Middle East with US$149.6 million, and other countries with US$121.7 million. By category, M&As recorded US$2.1208 billion, while green field investments brought in US$399.2 million.
Meanwhile, the MOTIE aims at attracting US$20 billion in foreign investment based on the M&A arrival amount for this year.