Global companies are more active in acquiring entities in China than in India, as the China-focused M&A activity this year so far amounted to a whopping $84.3 billion, while India-targeted M&A volume was just $24 billion.
According to global deal tracking firm Dealogic, India inbound M&A volume surged to $24 billion in 2011 so far, while China targeted M&A volume reached $84.3 billion in the same period.
"India and China have been the most targeted nations by acquirors outside the region – posting volume gains of 191% and 76% respectively year-on-year," Dealogic said.
The United Kingdom dominated the acquisition scene this year with $19.2-billion announced deals so far, surpassing the US for the first time since 2007 (in the comparable period).
BP's $9 billion acquisition of Reliance Industries' oil & gas assets, was the deal that pushed the United Kingdom to this coveted position. BP's $9-billion bid for 23 oil and gas blocks from Reliance Industries in February still stands as the largest inbound M&A in India so far this year and is also India's second biggest inbound cross-border deal on record.
The UK is the top acquiror into India with $15 billion - much more than the value seen in the comparable period last year ($157 million) and accounts for 62.6% of India inbound M&A volume in 2011 so far.
China targeted M&A volume, which stood at $84.3 billion in this year so far, witnessed 13% surge from the $74.6 billion announced in the same period last year.
In terms of number of deals also there were 1,808 transactions this year so far, up 4% from 1,733 deals announced in the same period last year. Other leading acquirer nations into India this year so far were the United States (18%), Germany (6%), Japan (4%), Denmark (3%), the report said.
Though year-on-year there has been an increase in inbound M&A volume, on a quarter on quarter basis there has been a significant decline.
India inflow M&A volume totalled to $3.9 billion in the second quarter of this year, down a whopping 81% from the record quarterly volume of $20.1 billion achieved in the first quarter of 2011, Dealogic said.
