By Natascha Divac 

FRANKFURT -- German companies are accelerating their expansion in the U.S., undaunted by President-elect Donald Trump's threats to limit international trade and uncertainty surrounding his future stance on foreign takeovers.

For companies ranging from giants like Bayer AG and Siemens AG to smaller players, low interest rates, rebounding consumer markets and U.S. reindustrialization are alluring enough to offset any trepidation.

German companies last year announced 64 U.S. acquisitions, valued at $88.5 billion, according to data provider Dealogic. Bayer's pending $57 billion deal for Monsanto Co. accounted for the lion's share of the record volume, but an array of smaller deals spans industries from technology to consumer products to health care to industrials.

Although Mr. Trump's stance on cross-boarder takeovers remains unclear, analysts believe he wouldn't object to deals that boost traditional industries and keep jobs in the U.S. Mr. Trump, in an interview last week, said that his efforts to boost U.S. investment and keep jobs in the country are paying off.

Bayer and Monsanto met with the president-elect last week to make a case for the German firm's takeover amid concerns over the impact on U.S. agriculture, with Bayer pledging to add "several thousand" new high-tech positions in the U.S. after the acquisition, while boosting research investments.

In November, Siemens announced the takeover of industrial-software provider Mentor Graphics Corp. for about $4 billion, intensifying its rivalry with General Electric Co. Months earlier Siemens acquired U.S.-based simulation-software provider CD-adapco in a deal valued at roughly $1 billion.

Chemical company Lanxess AG, spun off by Bayer in 2005, surprised investors in September with the $2.7 billion acquisition of Chemtura Corp., a Philadelphia-based maker of additives for lubricants and flame retardants, increasing competition with rivals, including Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Lubrizol.

For Lanxess Chief Executive Matthias Zachert, Mr. Trump's victory and his criticism of foreign trade are "even more reason" to invest in the U.S.

If a Trump administration were to raise trade barriers, "we would of course have a better and more expanded production base in the U.S." than rivals only exporting to the country, he said.

Germans' top takeover targets in the past year have been firms in technology, materials and industrial goods. The vast U.S. consumer market is also an attractive target.

Consumer-products company Henkel KGaA in June announced the acquisition of Sun Products, the maker of All and Wisk laundry detergents, for about $3.6 billion, pushing hard to take on Procter & Gamble Co. in its home market. Analysts estimated that, with Sun, Henkel would have about 21% of the U.S. liquid laundry market, leapfrogging Church & Dwight but still trailing P&G's dominant 55% share.

Nike Inc., the world's top sportswear maker, faces increased competition at home from Germany's Adidas AG, which after years of sliding sales is now enjoying strong momentum in North America. Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said recently he expected the U.S. market to grow "over-proportionally" for the company compared with other regions.

German discounter Aldi Sued said it plans "an aggressive coast-to-coast expansion" in the U.S., boosted by $3 billion in investments. The bargain retailer has been steadily expanding its U.S. footprint over the past 40 years. Now, it sees "a lot more opportunity," Aldi Sued said, as it pushes into wealthier areas and appeals to more upscale tastes. Aldi aims by 2018 to increase its network to 2,000 stores from about 1,600 to meet "an increased demand for Aldi across the U.S.," it said.

Aldi's cut-price German rival Lidl Stiftung & Co. says it is working on its own plans to enter the U.S. market, creating more competition for domestic grocery chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Kroger Co., and other foreign entrants such as Ahold Delhaize NV.

Record-low interest rates have been one of the major factors fueling the wave of takeovers and investments, but the Federal Reserve's interest rate increase in December may interrupt the trend, said Christopher Kummer of the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions & Alliances, a Vienna-based think tank. He said valuations have also started to look steep.

Lanxess, which in 2016 acquired two U.S. companies, doesn't exclude another takeover in the range of a few billion dollars.

"Our goal clearly is expanding in the U.S.," said Mr. Zachert. U.S. reindustrialization -- fueled by cheap raw materials -- is the main reason that "not only we, but many other companies, have suddenly become active in America," he said.

Oliver Schwarz, an analyst at Warburg Research, sees acquisitions such as Laxness's purchase of Chemtura as sensible strategic moves. The European chemical industry, he said, is "treading water," so it's necessary for players to invest in growth markets like the U.S. He added that Lanxess would have had a hard time acquiring a company of a comparable size in Europe.

Write to Natascha Divac at natascha.divac@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2017 05:44 ET (10:44 GMT)