U.S. direct investment abroad hit a record $252 billion in 2004, driven by rising corporate merger and acquisition activity, which picked up more generally last year and continues to do so in 2005, the OECD said on Thursday. The information came in a report on investment trends. U.S. outflows in foreign direct investment hit $252 billion versus $141 billion in 2003 while inward investment rose to $107 billion from a historically low $67 billion in 2003, the OECD said. France and Germany both registered sharp decreases in inward investment which the OECD said in a report were largely due to repayments of inter-company loans that shifted money abroad. Regarding the surges in inward and outward U.S. investment, the OECD said developments last year partly reflected weakness in the dollar but also a spending spurred by U.S. companies. Five of the largest cross-border merger or acquisition deals involved U.S. companies as buyers, it said, highlighting a broad pickup in mergers and acquisitions involving companies from the OECD's 30 members, mainly wealthy industrialized countries. "On present trends, both inward and outward FDI in OECD countries could increase by 10-15 per cent in 2005," it said. In France, inward investment almost halved, to $24 billion from $43 billion, while in Germany, foreign investors actually withdrew about $39 billion from the country, more than wiping out the $27 billion that flowed in 2003.