India Inc's First Quarter Registers Eightfold Rise in M&A

By siliconindia | Friday, 22 April 2016, 07:33 Hrs

BENGALURU: With the global merger and acquisition (M&A) tally touching the $600 Bn mark in the first quarter of 2016, Corporate India has contributed to the score with deals worth $5.4 billion in the month of March alone. According to a report by tax, assurance and advisory firm Graham Thornton, this is an eightfold leap from the amount spent by Indian corporates on M&A during the same period in 2015.

A Business Insider report states that 48 M&A deals were struck in March 2016 alone, when compared to the 43 transactions worth $677 Mn that happened in March 2015. While the global M&A is trying to establish a balance after spiraling down from a $1 Tr deal value registered in the previous three quarters, Indian corporations are boldly foraying into the outbound M&A scene.

One of the largest outbound acquisitions of this quarter saw a $1.3 Bn acquisition of 29.9 percent stake in a Rosneft owned Russian oil field by the Indian petroleum giants Indian Oil Corporation, Oil India and Bharat Petroleum. The other prominent acquisition had the Tokyo-based Yokohama Rubber Company spending $1,200 Mn to take over the off-highway-tyre manufacturer Alliance Tyre Group.

According to Business Insider, a growing outbound interest has actively contributed to more than 20 percent of the total deal values in the M&A growth this quarter, with a spurt in the domestic deal values by 66 percent.