In 2017, Chinese companies were again actively acquiring Swiss companies, in total 7 firms were bought, but this means 10 firms less compared to 2016. The main reason, why Chinese companies bought less firms in 2017 (in Switzerland and the rest of Europe) are stricter controls by Chinese officials and higher regulatory requirements by European governments.
China is currently the sixth biggest investor in Switzerland, behind Germany, the US, England, France, Japan and Italy.
The biggest company takeover in 2017 was the acquisition of Glencore Storage & Logistics by HNA for 775 Mio. USD. HNA also acquired a significant shareholding of the airport retailer Dufry. Other acquired companies were Bartholet Maschinenbau and Montratex AG, which were acquired by the Chinese Cederlake Capital Partners. In addition, Way Ray was bought by Alibaba, Polymetrix Holding by the Beijing Sanlian Hope New and the Phoenix Green Group by Ernest Borel Holdings.
