The total number of M&A deals announced in the month of February this year stood at 36 with a total announced value of $2.95 billion, global consultancy firm Grant Thornton said.

It is interesting to note that there were 102 M&A deals with a total value of about $36.80 billion in January and February 2007.  This year, in January, the total number of M&A deals that were announced stood at 56, with a total announced value of $3.01 billion. In M&A space this year, cross-border deals continue to outnumber domestic transactions.

Cross border pacts

While there were 17 domestic deals in February 2008, wherein both acquirer and target companies were Indian with an announced value of $2.47 billion, there were 19 cross-border deals with an announced value of $0.47 billion, Grant Thornton added. In as many as 12 of the cross border deals Indian companies acquired businesses outside India, which aggregated to a total value of $0.24 billion and in seven cases international companies or their subsidiaries acquired Indian businesses with an announced value of close to $0.23 billion.

Total number of private equity deals announced during the month of February this year stood at 27 deals with an announced value of $1.48 billion.