Investment by foreign firms in the Netherlands rose sharply in the third quarter of this year, but the figure is almost entirely due to the takeover of energy companies Nuon and Essent by foreign firms, according to central bank figures.

Foreign investment rose to €15bn in the third quarter as Sweden’s Vattenfall bought 49% of Nuon and Germany’s RWE took over Essent. Over the five previous quarters, foreign investment was flat or sometimes actually down, the central bank said.
Direct investment by Dutch companies in foreign countries was also up slightly at €9bn.