Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have shot up by over 70 per cent in India to cross a value of $7.85 billion in calendar year 2004, compared with $4.55 billion seen in 2003.But this is minuscule compared with global volumes: Indian M&As' totted up to just 0.42 per cent of the $1,853 billion M&As that took place across the world in 2004.Among investment banks, Citigroup closed 10 deals valued at over $2 billion, while Ernst & Young sewed up 23 worth $940 million.Merrill Lynch piloted deals worth $899 million, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company $832 million and Morgan Stanley $735 million so far this year, Bloomberg data said.A lot of private equity firms have shown keen interest in India "" they acccount for $1.33 billion of the local M&A deals. A prime example of this has been Warburg Pincus picking up a 29 per cent stake in Max India.Another interesting trend has been the growth in cross-border transactions, which, as a percentage of total volume of M&As, has risen significantly."Cross-border deals have taken place both in the form of inward and outbound transactions," said an investment banker.The growth in inward transactions has come on the back of foreign companies acquiring information technology and telecom entities in India. Inward M&A deals included Barclays' acquisition of 60 per cent stake in Intelenet for $34.91 million, and online auctions giant E-Bay's purchase of Bazee.com for $50.34 million. The latter deal was piloted by Goldmans Sachs and Kotak Mahindra Capital.The inward segment has seen huge growth because overseas companies find it far more economical to acquire existing set ups than go for organic growth, a senior executive from a leading investment banking outfit said.Outbound transactions, too, have shot up significantly, with manufacturing companies acquiring entities overseas.For example, ONGC is eyeing offshore oilfields, one of which belongs to Royal Dutch Petroleum. The value of the deal is expected to be $600 million, and would be executed through Citigroup.With global interest rates at an all-time low this year, a lot of M&As also took place driven by equity-linked offerings.Also, the move allowing corporates to raise up to $500 million external commercial borrowings under the automatic route boosted such offerings. These include L&T's convertible bond of $150 million, Tata Motors' issue for $100 million and Zee Telefilms' for $100 million.
