170 M&A deals worth $4.2 billion in January and February: Grant Thornton

MUMBAI: The deal street remained moderate during the first two months of the year with only 170 deals worth $ 4.2 billion as cross-border activity remained tepid during the month, said Grant Thornton India.

"The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) scenario remained moderate in the first two months of 2014 with 170 deals worth $ 4.2 billion, thinks to a pick-up in in-bound following the Sembcorp investment in NCC Power Projects. But cross-border deal activity remained rather lukewarm," Grant Thornton India partner for transaction advisory services Raja Lahiri said in a note.

However, he noted that the telecom sector saw some activity towards consolidation, with Bharti buying out Loop Mobile for Rs 700 crore, and it was the e-commerce sector which saw many PEs/ venture capital (VC) deals.

The total M&A and private equity deals in February were valued at $ 2.6 billion from 83 deals, compared to $ 3.3 billion from 75 deals in the same months of 2013, he said.

Though the overall deal value was lower, volume remained steady in the month.

The top M&A deal was Aman Resorts' acquisition of Silverlink Holdings for $ 358 million, representing 20 per cent of total M&A deal value.

The top PE deal was $ 183 million investment by Temasek and IDFC Alternatives in GMR Infrastructure, representing 22 per cent of total PE deal value in the month.