India-targeted merger and acquisition deals have touched $21.7 billion: Mergermarket

NEW DELHI: India targeted merger and acquisition deals reached $21.7 billion in the first 9 months of this year, up 22.4 per cent year-on-year, according to Mergermarket.

The value of India-targeted M&A for the entire 2014 is likely to surpass the 2013 annual total of $22.3 billion, said the global deal tracking firm.

"As a result of impressive Q2, the value of India- targeted M&As so far this year is valued at $21.7 billion, up 22.4 per cent from the same period of 2013 ($17.7 billion), and likely that 2014 will surpass 2013 annual total of $22.3 billion," Mergermarket said.

However, despite a significant uptrend, India accounts for just 5 per cent of the Asia-Pacific's total M&A, $ 429.6 billion.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the July-September deal tally dropped 65.2 per cent to $4.7 billion. The second quarter had seen deals worth $13.6 billion, one of the highest valued quarters on record.

Sector-wise, the pharma, medical and biotech sector was the most active this year so far with deals worth $5.1 billion, accounting for 23.4 per cent market share. This was largely driven by the $4 billion Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy deal, the report said.

Inbound M&As into India were valued at $10.2 billion, down 15.6 per cent from the same period last year, the report said, adding that "investors are likely to be waiting for new rules to become official that will entice more inbound investment in the medium to long term".

In terms of outbound M&As, though there have been more number of transactions, in terms of deal value it amounted to just $1.2 billion, down from $7.9 billion, indicating that very small deals are being made, it said.