ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, CBM&A have grown substantially and become one of the most important vehicles for firms seeking to internationalize their operations. Data and analysis presented in Chapter 4 based on the information available from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) database and the database of UK National Statistics revealed that the total share of CBM&A as a percentage of world FDI flows rose from 45.18% in 1991 to 84.52% in 2005. The ratio of world CBM&A activities as a percentage of GDP is also impressive. For example, the share of global value of CBM&A increased from 0.36% of worldwide GDP in 1991 to more than 1.35% in 2005, representing a growth of 275%. In similar vein, the UK CBM&A activity has seen a rising trends in the recent years. For example in 1991 the value of UK’s cross-border purchases and sales were US$8,501 million and US$13,020 million, respectively. These values increased to US$90,535 million and US$171,689 million in 2005. This represents a growth of 965% in cross-border purchases and a more than 1,200% growth in cross-border sales over this 15-year period. In terms of relative ranking among the participating countries in the international market for corporate control, UK has been the top acquiring nation in the world over the 1991–2005 period and next to the top as a target nation for the same period.
