India Inc's M&A tally touches USD 11 bn in first half of 2013

NEW DELHI: Merger and acquisition activity in India witnessed a significant surge in the April-June period of the year taking the year-to-date tally to USD 10.9 billion through 130 transactions, says global deal tracking firm mergermarket.


Deal activity in the second quarter of this year more than doubled to USD 7.7 billion over the first quarter of 2013 (January-March) when deals worth USD 3.2 billion were announced.

Moreover there was an uptick in both inbound and outbound deal activity with inbound M&A value jumped 190.4 per cent from Q1 and outbound deals surged 732.6 per cent above the Q1 2013 tally.

"Inbound M&A value jumped 190.4 per cent from Q1 2013 (USD 2.3 billion) to USD 6.8 billion in Q2 2013," the mergermarket said adding that outbound transactions surged 732.6 per cent above the Q1 2013 tally.

Outbound deals were the flavour of the April-June quarter as Indian firms snapped up USD 5.2 billion-worth of assets overseas.

Some of the key outbound deals os the quarter include ONGC and Oil India's acquisition of a a 10 per cent stake in the giant Rovuma gas field in Mozambique for USD 2.5 billion -- the country's largest outbound foray so far this year.

The April-June period also featured Apollo Tyres' bid for Cooper Tire & Rubber, the largest acquisition of a US target ever attempted by an Indian bidder.

However, despite the strong recovery this quarter, H1 2013 M&A totalled USD 10.9 billion (130 deals) - the lowest opening half year since H1 2009 (USD 7.8 billion, 98 deals).

The Netherlands-based Unilever's acquisition of 22.5 per cent stake in its Indian subsidiary for USD 5.4 billion accounted for 52.1 per cent of aggregate inbound H1 2013 value and consequently, the consumer sector had the highest total deal value, the report added.