Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal value in India has reached a record high of $44.2 billion so far this year. According to a report by mergermarket, an M&A intelligence service provider, M&A activities in India generally saw significant improvement in the past three quarters with 183 deals worth $44.2 billion announced, the increase was 24.5 percent in volume terms and 312.9 percent in terms of deal value. “We expect to see a lot more strategic activity in India as private equity players shy away from the sky-high valuations being demanded by shareholders,” said Anjali Naik, Deputy Editor - APAC, mergermarket. She also added that the consumer, travel and hospitality sector may see a large number of M&A deals and India may trade into newer territories in the coming months.

The Government’s auction of 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrums worth $11.009 billion and $5.473 billion, respectively contributed significantly to the deal tally. A sector wise analysis shows that the technology, media and telecom sectors lead the market with 47.3 percent of the total M&A deal value till date, while, the energy, mining and utilities sector, came second with 26.3 percent in deal value for the first three quarters of 2010, the report said.

According to the report, Rothschild decorated the top spot on the financial advisors league table in the first three quarters of 2010, as it advised on M&A transactions with a total value of $27.4 billion, while, Ernst & Young topped the deal count financial advisers table by advising on 18 deals. Some of the announced deals so far this year include the $10.7-million Bharti-Zain deal, Vedanta’s 60 percent stake buy in Cairn India worth $9.1 million, the $3.7-million Abbott Laboratories-Piramal Healthcare deal.