Introduction

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are becoming increasingly important as a source of financing for foreign direct investment (FDI; Dunning and Lundan, 2008; Hitt et al., 2001). According to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report (2010), from 2000 to 2009 the total value of M&A transactions peaked in 2007 at around $1,023 trillion and, due to the world financial crisis, fell to $707 billion in 2008 and $250 billion in 2009. Foreign M&A have been reported to be the preferred vehicle of FDI during the last twenty years.

Lately, the importance of emerging countries as sources and recipients of FDI flows has been increasing. Thus, from 2000 to 2009, participation of emerging countries in the world’s total outward FDI flows has grown from 11 per cent to 27 per cent of the total world’s outward FDI (UNCTAD, 2010). Since the nineties, the world has witnessed the growth of multinationals from emerging economies, notably from the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). For instance, the number of companies from these countries reported in the Fortune Global 500 study has grown from twenty-four in 2005 to sixty-seven in 2010. The Boston Consulting Group study on global challengers (Verma et al., 2011) in its 2011 edition on the 100 most successful companies from emerging markets, reports seventy-two companies from the BRIC countries (thirty-three from China, twenty from India, thirteen from Brazil and six from Russia).