India Inc's deal tally at $20.56 bn so far this year

The total value of private equity, merger and acquisition and qualified institutional placement deals involving India Inc adds up to a whopping $20.56 billion so far this year, according to global consultancy firm Grant Thornton.

Corporate India's deal activity in the period between January till March this year was better than last year, with the bulk accounted for by foreign firms or their subsidiaries that acquired Indian businesses.

The total merger and acquisition, private equity and qualified institutional placements for the first quarter of this year amounted to $20.56 billion through 221 deals, according to Grant Thornton's latest Dealtracker issue.

"We saw M&A showing heightened level of activity in 2010. The first quarter of 2011 has seen even better deal traction, with both the M&A and PE investments exceeding the activity in Q1, 2010," Grant Thornton Partner - Specialist Advisory Services C G Srividya said.

M&A has seen some large transactions, with six deals valued at over half a billion each. The transaction values for the first quarter this year have been the highest in the last 16 quarters, she added.

Interestingly, out of the $20.56 billion deal tally, inbound deals amounted to $13.75 billion. "A key trend to note is that most of the large M&A deal values have been from inbound deals as compared to outbound deals during the same period last year," Srividya said.

Corporate India's shopping spree abroad, however, witnessed a significant decline as there were only 34 deals amounting to $1.73 billion in the January-March period this year as against 46 deals in the corresponding period last year.

The total value of domestic deals in the first quarter of this calender year was $2.40 billion as compared to $3.27 billion in the corresponding period a year ago, the report said.

The average deal size for the first quarter was $125 million and $28 million for M&A and PE respectively, the report added.

In the private equity segment, the first quarter of this year saw 76 deals amounting to $2.16 billion.

"PE investments have shown significant growth in deal volumes from 59 to 76 deals between 2010 and 2011 first quarters. The deal values have also grown by over 35% during this period. The deal sizes have increased as well, with five investments being valued at over $100 million each," Srividya said.