Driven by improved liquidity and business confidence, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as well as private equity (PE) activities in the country are showing signs of recovery and the deal space is likely to see an uptrend in the coming months, experts said.
"The optimistic outlook of the global markets is now reflecting on the transactions landscape of the country. The current quarter has set the ground for substantial recovery in the Indian transactions market driven by easy liquidity and increasing investors appetite," global consultancy firm Ernst & Young National Director and Partner Transaction Advisory Services Ranjan Biswas said.
Echoing similar opinion, Grant Thornton Partner Specialist Advisory Services C G Srividya said: "There has been a stable level of M&A activity in the month of August 2009. With 25 deals valued at about $650 million, the transaction values have been primarily driven by significant domestic deals."
According to Ernst and Young, the third quarter of 2009 saw as many as 180 M&A as well as PE deals, with domestic transactions contributing to about 57 per cent of the total transaction value.
Meanwhile, as per Grant Thornton, the total number of M&A deals during the first eight months of 2009 stood at 183 deals with an announced value of $6.56 billion. The total number of private equity deals till August this year reached 131 deals with an announced value of $5.61 billion.
Going forward, the overall transactions climate in the country is likely to improve in the coming months, Ernst and Young said in its latest transaction quarterly report.
"Given the improving liquidity conditions in the economy coupled with increasing business confidence, firms are expected to tap the inorganic route as they look to grow in size," Ernst & Young said.
Further, with the pace of global economic deterioration slowing down, the investment appetite of private equity fund houses is expected to witness an upward trend, it added.
