India Inc's M&A spree slows down

Logs a fall of $ 27 bn

Mirroring a slowdown in the global markets the merger and acquisition spree of corporate India has been dampened registering a decline of as much as $ 27 billion  so far this year, says a survey.     

"The total number of M&A deals during the first seven months of 2008 stands at 315, with an announced value of $18.10 billion as against 394 deals amounting to $ 44.91 billion during the corresponding period in 2007," research and consultancy firm Grant Thornton said in the latest issue of Dealtracker.     

In July, 43 M&A deals were announced with a total announced value of $ 583.95 million. Out of the 43 deals 17 were domestic, where in both acquirer and target being Indian and 26 were cross-border deals.     

Some of the significant deals were WNS Ltd's acquisition of Aviva Global Services for $ 230 million  followed by Quatrro BPO Solutions acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in UK-based Babel Media for 110 million dollar.     

The 17 domestic deals had an announced value of $ 15.03 million and the 26 cross-border deals had an announced value of $568.95 million.     

Out of the 26 cross border deals 20 were outbound deals, where Indian companies acquired business outside the country with a value of $ 498.53 million, and six were inbound deals where international companies or their subsidiaries acquired domestic business with an announced value of $ 70.40 million.