India Inc strikes two deals a day on an average

MUMBAI: India Inc continued with its M&A frenzy in August striking an average of two deals per day, a marginal increase over the previous month's deal numbers but over three-fold jump in value terms.

A total of 62 M&A deals valued at 3.37 billion dollar were announced in August, against 59 deals worth about 0.94 billion dollar in July, according to data compiled by Grant Thornton.

Although nearly equal number of domestic and cross-border deals were recorded last month, in value terms there was a distinct foreign flavour in the overall league table.

The international consultancy and research major in its M&A report for the month, released today, said 30 domestic deals were announced with a total value of $0.66 billion, while the value of 32 cross-border deals was nearly four-times of this figure at $2.71 billion.

The increase in the value was in sharp contrast to the general perception that the US subprime mortgage crisis and the subsequent impact on the global markets would slow down M&A activity.

The total tally of M&A deals announced so far this year stood at 460, with an announced value of $48.4 billion.

The most significant deals of the month were JSW Steels acquisition of three US firms Jindal United Steel Corp, Saw Pipes USA and Jindal Enterprises LLC and Wipro acquiring US-based Infocrossing Inc, Grant Thornton said.

Another outstanding cross-border deal includes Holcim's increasing of its stake in Ambuja Cements to 36.20 per cent for $220 million.

Out of total 32 cross-border deals, 21 were outbound with a value of $2.33 billion and 11 inbound deals with a value of $0.38 billion. Besides, the total number of private equity deals announced in August stood at 37 with an announced value of $1.22 billion, against 30 M&As worth $2.79 billion declared in July.

The total tally of PE deals announced so far this year stands at 267, with an value of $10.82 billion.

The most significant PE deals were Fortress Capital, HSBC Principal Investments, Galleon Group, New Silk Route, GLG Partners, Quantum Fund (George Soros) and DA Capital investment of $337.50 million in Infrastructure unit of Reliance Communication.

The other major PE deals were the investment of $150 million in Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCCL) and $110.47 million in Gokaldas Exports by Blackstone Group.