China-focused M&A deals value at $84 bn, India-focused at $24bn

NEW DELHI: Global companies are more active in acquiring entities in China than in India, as the China focused M&A activity this year so far amounted to a whopping $ 84.3 bn, while India-targeted M&A volume was just $ 24 bn.

According to global deal tracking firm Dealogic, India inbound M&A volume surged to $ 24 bn in 2011 so far, while China targeted M&A volume reached $ 84.3 bn in the same period.

"India and China have been the most targeted nations by acquirors outside the region - posting volume gains of 191 per cent and 76 per cent respectively year-on-year," Dealogic said.

The United Kingdom dominated the acquisition scene this year with $ 19.2 bn announced deals so far, surpassing the US for the first time since 2007 (in the comparable period).

BP's $ 9 bn acquisition of Reliance Industries' oil & gas assets, was the deal that pushed the United Kingdom to this coveted position.

BP's $ 9 bn bid for 23 oil and gas blocks from Reliance Industries in February still stands as the largest inbound M&A in India so far this year and is also India's second biggest inbound cross-border deal on record.

The UK is the top acquiror into India with $ 15 bn - much more than the value seen in the comparable period last year ($ 157 million) and accounts for 62.6 per cent of India inbound M&A volume in 2011 so far.

China targeted M&A volume, which stood at $ 84.3 bn in this year so far, witnessed 13 per cent surge from the $ 74.6 bn announced in the same period last year.

In terms of number of deals also there were 1,808 transactions this year so far, up 4 per cent from 1,733 deals announced in the same period last year.

Other leading acquirer nations into India this year so far were the United States (18 per cent), Germany (6 per cent), Japan (4 per cent), Denmark (3 per cent), the report said.

Though year-on-year there has been an increase in inbound M&A volume, on a quarter on quarter basis there has been a significant decline.

India inflow M&A volume totalled to $ 3.9 bn in the second quarter of this year, down a whopping 81 per cent from the record quarterly volume of $ 20.1 bn achieved in the first quarter of 2011, Dealogic said.