UK companies spent 12.1 bln stg in overseas acquisitions in the final three months of last year, well up on the 7.5 bln stg recorded in the third quarter, official figures showed today. The latest figure is the highest since the first quarter of 2003 and was flattered by UK chemical group INEOS' buy of Innovene, a US petrochemical firm for the reported sum of 5 bln stg, the office of National Statistics said The amount spent by foreign companies on acquisitions in the UK also rose in the last three months of 2005, reaching 15.2 bln stg from 13.8 bln stg in the third quarter of last year. One significant transaction was Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA acquiring BPB PLC for reported value of 3.9 bln stg. Within the UK, domestic companies spent a decreasing amount on acquisitions, with the amount spent falling to 5.0 bln stg from 7.2 bln stg in the third quarter The largest transaction was the acquisition of Coral Eurobet PLC by Gala Group Ltd for a value of approximately 2.0 bln stg