Deal Of The Week

State-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC)'s US$4.1bn bid for Canada's Harvest Energy Trust is a welcome reminder that China is not the only Asian economy with a heavy agenda of natural resource acquisitions. Oil and gas account for 14% of South Korean outbound cross-border M&A. This comes as no surprise, as South Korea produces little oil of its own and is a top importer. Like China's state-owned companies, KNOC is pursuing acquisitions overseas to meet the country's consumption, which exceeds 2 million barrels a day. Yet up until now, KNOC has failed to make large enough bids to outcompete China.

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