M&A deals jump 3-fold to $12 bn in Q1 FY15, says a report

The value of deals announced by corporate India registered more than three-fold jump at $12.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, says a report.

Mergermarket, a global deal tracking firm, said there were 86 deals worth $12.1 billion announced in the first quarter of 2015 up from 76 deals worth $3.6 billion in the same period a year ago. This is the highest number of deals in the January-March quarter in recent years as per the firm’s record. The average deal value during the period under review stood at $227.7 million, a little behind the five-year record high of $243.5 million reached in second quarter of 2014. Sectorwise, industrial and chemical were the most actively targeted sectors in the first quarter, attracting 13 deals worth $4.1 billion. 

“This sector featured the largest deal of the quarter -- a mandatory offer launched by the consortium led by Dilip Shanghvi, the founder of Sun Pharmaceutical, to acquire Suzlon Energy for $3.1 billion,” the report said. The energy, mining and utilities sector recorded the highest deal count of all sectors with 15 deals, but the total value stood at just $202 million, registering a significant downside over last year, due to a number of smaller and undisclosed-value deals.

Inbound deals were the flavour of the quarter as the deals value in this segment stood at $5.8 billion in quarter, up 31.3 per cent over the previous quarter. For the period under review, despite a drop in the number of such transactions, total deal value rose by 73.7 per cent over last year to $1.7 billion, driven by large-sized investments.