FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY CLASS DTUE 310.2 M&A Trends in the World and in Vietnam IntroductionCross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have grown rapidly recently. Some transactions had the value about two times larger than the gross domestic product of Vietnam such as Vodafone Airtouch PLC and Mannesmann merger at about $183 billion and AOL Inc. and Time Warner at about $165 billion (Wikipedia, Merger and Acquisition, Major M&A). Cross-border M&Asmust now be included among the fundamental mechanisms of industrial globalization. In addition, cross-border M&As now contributes a greater part for total value of foreign direct investment rather than greenfield investment does. It happens again and again in all geographical areas from developed countries to developing countries, and all industries. However the proportion of cross-border M&As in difference areas, difference industries are incommensurate and it changes considerably over time. Our paper aims to point out the recent trend of cross-border M&As in the world and in Vietnam. In the first part, we list a number of factors that drive the M&As trend. The second part shows the trend of M&As in the world from 2005 to 2011. This trend is analyzed in both different geographical areas and different industries. Next we present the trend of cross-border M&As in Vietnam in recent years. And in the final part we briefly suggest pros and cons of M&As situation happening in Vietnam. Contents Introduction. 1 1. Factors driving cross-border M&As. 2 1.1. Macro-level factors. 2 1.1.1. Economic growth. 2 1.2. Industrial-level factors. 2 1.2.1. Major sector 2 1.2.2. Related industry. 2 1.3. Firm-level factors. 2 1.3.2. Difference of skills. 3 1.3.3. Difference of firm strategies. 3 1.4. Technology-related factors. 3 1.4.1. Difficulty of R&D 3 1.4.2. New technology. 3 1.5. Government-related factors. 4 1.5.1. Government Policy. 4 2. The trend of cross-border M&As in the world. 4 2.1. Overview 4 2.1.1. Cross-border M&As and Greenfield investment 4 2.1.2. Cross – border M&As and Domestic M&As. 4 2.2. Regional trend in cross – border M&As. 5 2.2.1. Host countries ( the sellers) 7 2.2.2. TNCs (the buyers) 9 2.3. Sectional trend of M&As. 11 2.3.1. Primary industry. 12 2.3.2. Manufacturing industries. 13 2.3.3. Services industries. 14 2.4. Prospects and conclusion. 15 3. The trend of cross-border M&As in Vietnam 17 3.1. Overview 17 3.2. Trend in region/economy of purchaser 18 3.3. Trend in sector 20 4. Opportunities and Challenges for Vietnam 21 4.1. Opportunities. 21 4.1.1. Vietnam is considered as an attractive destination of M&A 21 4.1.2. On the investors’ side. 22 4.1.3. On the firms’ side. 22 4.2. Challenges. 23 4.2.1. Some legal issues. 23 4.2.2. In general, Vietnamese (include the authority, enterprises, investors, intermediaries, brokers .) still lack of information and understandings about M&A which leads to. 24 4.2.3. The weakness in competitive capacity, methods of specific management, national accounting apparatus that leads to 24 4.3. Solutions. 25 4.3.1. Adjustment to the legal system 25 4.3.2. Improving knowledge and understandings about M&A 25 4.3.3. Improving skills and experience of intermediaries. 25 4.3.4. Improving understandings and capacity of companies involved. 25 Conclusion. 27 References. 28