German firms targeted for investment

Private equity companies in the US and UK have reportedly targeted up to a third of German’s blue-chip companies for acquisition.

These equity firms seem prepared to enter into joint deals in a German market that has gone from near isolation from international investment to a quickly expanding foreign influence in the past decade and a half.

Targets are said to especially include such companies as Bayer, Lufthansa, and Volkswagen.

Some experts expect that these private equity firms are contemplating breaking with tradition to buy minority portions of some of these companies rather than seeking outright control in the usual manner.

One expert said that he could easily see two or three companies teaming up to take a company private. One possible reason German companies are such an attractive target right now is that there are so many of them underperforming at present.

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