India Inc’s Jan-June deal tally dips 4% to $17.5 bn

India Inc’s deal making activity eased in the first half of this year with 162 deals worth $17.5 billion, even as the momentum looks bullish in the long run, says a Mergermarket report. According to the global deal tracking firm, deal making activity in the first half of the year was down 4 per cent in value terms, compared to deals worth $18.2 billion in January-June period of 2015. “With the M&A deal-making in Asia-Pacific experiencing a slowdown, India’s M&A activity also eased in general,” Mergermarket said in a report. “Compared to historical high in the same period a year ago, the deal count was 26.7 per cent fewer and deal value was 4 per cent lower,” it added. Technology; pharma, medical & biotech; and energy, mining & utilities were the top three sectors to see a significant decline in deal volume. 

The report noted that technology was still one of the most active target sectors by deal count, despite dropping to 26 deals at $2.3 billion in the first half, compared to 42 transactions valued at $1.5 billion in the year-ago period. Construction sector occupied the largest market share (20.5 per cent) by deal value, recording seven deals worth $3.6 billion in the first half of this year, compared to eight deals worth $0.8 billion in January June period of 2015.