The data collected by deal-tracking firm Dealogic showed that acquisitions of European firms by Asian investors jumped 87 per cent, compared with full-year 2007, to US$43.9 billion. The data do not include Japan.

However, deals by Asian companies in the United States fell 50 per cent compared with 2007 to US$14.1 billion, Dealogic said. The average size of such deals fell 59 per cent to US$122 million each, compared with an average of US$298 million for acquisitions in 2007, it said.

The most active investors in the United States were South Korean firms, which spent US$5.1 billion in 32 deals, the report said.

Slumping share prices have made many overseas companies relatively inexpensive, offering a rare opportunity for firms in Asia including cash-rich, state-run Chinese companies to go bargain-hunting.

China was the biggest buyer in Europe, with its companies spending US$25.9 billion, mainly on big resource-related acquisitions.

India ranks second, with US$10.4 billion in such deals.

The biggest acquisition in 2008 was Aluminum Corp of China's purchase of a 12 per cent stake in mining giant Rio Tinto PLC's London-listed unit for about US$14 billion.

Other big deals included offshore oil-services provider China Oilfield Services' acquisition of Norway's Awilco Offshore, in a deal valued at US$2.5 billion, and the US$2.9 billion purchase of a 1.6 per cent stake in France's Total by Beijing's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Dealogic said. -- AP