China's overseas M&A spree comes at lowest costs since 2012

New York

AS CHINESE companies go on a record US$157 billion overseas buying binge, they're collecting their corporate trophies at the cheapest levels in four years.

The median price they're paying this year amounts to 14 times the Ebitda - or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation - of the target companies, down from a multiple of 16 in 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's a 30 per cent discount to domestic mergers and acquisitions.