Consulting firm Transactional Track Record says Chinese were the main foreign investors in Portugal last year, having put or undertaken to put over €10 billion (US$11.5 billion) into the country, Negócios reports.
The Portuguese business newspaper, citing a Transactional Track Record document, says Chinese companies began the process of buying or merging with five Portuguese businesses last year, two of them in healthcare, two in energy and one in real estate.
The report says the biggest such deal is the purchase of Portuguese utility Energias de Portugal SA (EDP) by Chinese state-owned electricity company China Three Gorges Corp. for €9.07 billion.
Spanish companies put or undertook to put €2.3 billion into Portugal last year, almost half the sum being invested in real estate, and began the process of buying or merging with 49 Portuguese businesses, Negócios reports.