India Inc is showing a distinct foreign flavour in its M&A deals, with cross-border deal value going up nearly 16 times at $4.11 billion as compared to the value of domestic deals in May, a latest report shows.
According to data compiled by global consultancy firm Grant Thornton, 42 cross-border deals with an announced value of $4.11 billion were carried out by Corporate India in May, while 32 domestic M&As garnered just $0.26 billion to their kitty.
The total number of M&A deals announced in May was worth $4.37 billion, with United Spirits buying out Whyte & Mackay for $1.11 billion, and Suzlon Energy’s controlling stake in REpower for 1.7 billion dollars, being the most significant deals of the month, Thorton said.
The M&A deals in the month totalled 74 with announced values of $4.37 billion as against 57 deals worth $3.98 billion in April, Thornton’s Dealtracker report said.
Out of the total cross-border deals, 30 were outbound with Indian companies acquiring businesses outside the country for a value of $3.79 billion.
There were 12 inbound deals (international companies acquiring Indian businesses) with an announced value of close to $0.32 billion. Besides, the total number of private equity deals announced during the month stands at 24 with an announced value of $1.56 billion as against 23 deals with a total announced value of $0.44 billion in April.
Cross-border deals
World Bank’s private sector arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC) invested 30 million dollars in Kanoria Chemicals and Electrotherm India in May.
Private equity investor Sequoia Capital invested about $7 milion in IT firm Minglebox.com, while Reliance Capital picked up a stake in Precision Wires for $4.12 million, the data show.
Some of the major inbound cross-border deals include French banking major BNP Paribas’s acquisition of 45 per cent stake in financial services firm Sundaram Home Finance for $45.81 million.
Besides, Standard Chartered Bank bought 49 per cent stake for $34.19 million in UTI Securities and Interpublic Group hiked its stake in Lintas India to 100 per cent for $100 million.
In March and April, there were 111 M&A deals with a total value of about $6.12 billion. These included 62 domestic deals with a value of $0.73 billion.
The number of inbound cross-border deals has been 17 with a value of $1.98 billion and the number of outbound cross border deals was 32 with a value of $3.41 billion.