Look before you leap into overseas M

The M&A season may be upon corporate China, but senior research fellows are cautioning local companies to be more selective and diligent before committing to major deals.

Overseas acquisitions should be preceded by careful risk evaluation and a clear plan to integrate new investments with long-term business strategies, they said.

Alex Wittenberg, executive director of Global Risk Center at Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc, a leading insurance broker and risk manager, said at a recent forum on overseas investment opportunities and risks on March 4, "Companies make mistakes when they set a foreign investment strategy to go do something. At that point of time, they don't address the risks in that strategy.