M&A, PE deals more than double in 5 mths

NEW DELHI: Corporate merger & acquisitions and private equity transactions more than doubled in the first five months of the current calendar year, recording a marked revival in deal activity in the country. As many as 439 M&A and PE transactions have been announced between January and May this year compared to just 179 in the year ago period, as per advisory firm Grant Thornton.

Indeed, the number of deals sealed so far this year has also overtaken that of the corresponding period in 2008 when 383 deals were announced. The sharp rebound in the corporate dealmaking over the past few months is linked to the recovery in the Indian economy, said a Delhi-based corporate lawyer specialising in such transactions. The value of deals announced since January has topped the $30-billion mark, over three-fold jump from $8.1 billion recorded in January-May 2009.

The month of May alone witnessed 59 deals worth $8.33 billion against 35 deals valued at $1.85 billion in the year ago period. Out of this, 44 were M&As and the remaining 15 were PE transactions. Some of the key sectors that attracted significant investor interest in the M&A space were pharma & healthcare, banking & finance, mining, FMCG and IT/ITeS, while PE firms struck deals in cement, education and real estate sectors, among others.

The biggest PE transaction last month was KKR- Dalmia Cement deal worth $159.57 million. The biggest M&A deal was Abbott’s acquisition of Piramal Healthcare’s formulations business for $3.7 billion.