Korean companies purchased 82 foreign firms in overseas merger and acquisition deals last year, lagging far behind Japan and China, according to an economic think tank on Monday.

Samjong KPMG, a South Korean unit of the global services firm KPMG, said Japanese companies reached 453 cross-border M&A deals last year, while China bought 195 foreign firms.

Analysts attributed brisk overseas M&A deals by Japan and China to Japanese companies and the Chinese government’s support to its companies, respectively.

They said Korean companies, except for conglomerates, are ill-prepared to buy foreign peers due mainly to a lack of cash and the economic slowdown.

(From news reports)