Deals
China Power Giant's $10 Billion Rethink Dashes M&A Revival Hopes
- Three Gorges exploring smaller alternatives to EDP takeover
- Asia Pacific acquisitions are already down 30% this year
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When China Three Gorges Corp. offered more than $10 billion last year to take over Portugal’s biggest power utility, bankers rejoiced that the flow of Chinese outbound acquisitions had started up again.
It was only the third megadeal out of China since the heady days of 2016, when $239 billion of foreign purchases were announced. The fact that EDP-Energias de Portugal SA was being pursued by Three Gorges, a state-owned firm, was taken as a sign that Beijing would bless selective strategic deals while reining in inexperienced companies’ more frothy purchases.