During the first half of 2010, Indian companies were involved in a total of 300 merger and acquisition deals, up 69% from the same period in 2009, according to a study by Venture Intelligence.
The deal activity was also up 27% compared to the second half of 2009. The median deal value during the first half of 2010 (for the 135 deals which had announced transaction values) was $20 million, marginally down from the median deal value of $20.5 million in the same period in 2009. However, it is higher than $17.75 million in the second half of 2009, the study by research company found.
In the largest deal during the period, Bharti Airtel completed its acquisition of Kuwaiti-based Zain?s African assets in a deal valued at $10.7 billion. This was followed by Adani Enterprises? $5.48 billion amalgamation with Mundra Port and Abbott Healthcare?s $3.720 billion acquisition of Piramal Healthcare?s domestic formulation business.
About 33% of the deals in the first half of 2010 were outbound acquisitions, as against only 23% in the same period last year. Domestic deals continued to be the major contributor with a 53% share.
The most preferred destination for Indian acquires was the US with 25 of the 99 outbound targets in the first half of 2010 located in that country, followed by the UK with 23 deals.
The acquires in 12 of the 42 inbound deals were the US-based companies, followed by French firms with seven deals and Japanese firms with six deals.
The IT & ITeS and manufacturing industries accounted for the most number of acquisitions during the first half of 2010 with an 22% share each. The activity in the manufacturing industry grew from 19% during the same period last year while the share of IT & ITeS deals fell marginally from 23%.