UKtopslistforforeigndirectinvestment

TheUKreceivedmoreinwardinvestmentthananyothercountrylastyearasglobalforeigndirectinvestmentreachedafour－yearhigh，buoyedbyawaveofmergersandacquisitionsinthe30economicallyadvancednationsoftheOrganisationforEconomicCo－operationandDevelopment。

ButtheParis－basedbodywarnedforthefirsttimethatinvestmentandgrowthwerethreatenedbyknee－jerkreactionsagainsttakeovers，basedonnationalsecurityconcernsandasensethatnotallcountriesandtheircompaniesplayedbythesamerules。

ExamplesincludedthefrustratedbidbyCNOOC，theChineseoilcompanyforUS－basedUnocalandtheresistancemetbyGazprom，theRussianenergygiant，initsattemptstosecureabiggerfootholdingasdistributioninEurope。

IntheEuropeanUnion，governmentsandregulatorsinsomecaseshaveexpressedhostilitytotake－oversevenbycountriesdomiciledinotherEUcountries，thereportsaid。Intheareaofpublicutilities，itcitedtheSpanishgovernment‘seffortstoblocktheGermangroupEon‘sbidforEndesaandtheSuez－GazdeFrancemerger，promotedbytheFrenchgovernmenttothwartapossiblebidforSuezfromItaly‘sEnel。

TheUKwasthetargetofmanyoftheworld‘slargesttakeoverslastyearwhichhelpedpropelittothetopoftherecipients‘leaguetable。Theseincludedthe￡7bnacquisitionofAlliedDomecq，thedrinksgroup，byFrance‘‘‘‘sPernodRicard。ThemergerbetweenShellTransportandTradingandRoyalDutchPetroleumintoRoyalDutchShell，withheadquartersintheNetherlands，alsomadeasubstantialcontribution。

TheUSwasthesecondlargestrecipientwith$110bn，thoughthiswasan18percentfallfrom2004。USoutwardsdirectinvestmentfellfromitsusuallyhighleveltovirtuallyzero？probablyatemporaryeffectoftaxchangestoUSmultinationals‘qualifyingdividendsfromabroad。

OutsidetheOECD，ChinahitarecordasadestinationforFDI，withinflowsof$72bn，surpassedonlybytheUKandUS。