Indian Mergers and Acquisitions: The changing face of Indian Business

Until upto a couple of years back, the news that Indian companies having acquired American-European entities was very rare. However, this scenario has taken a sudden U turn. Nowadays, news of Indian Companies acquiring a foreign businesses are more common than other way round.

Buoyant Indian Economy, extra cash with Indian corporates, Government policies and newly found dynamism in Indian businessmen have all contributed to this new acquisition trend. Indian companies are now aggressively looking at North American and European markets to spread their wings and become the global players.

The Indian IT and ITES companies already have a strong presence in foreign markets, however, other sectors are also now growing rapidly. The increasing engagement of the Indian companies in the world markets, and particularly in the US, is not only an indication of the maturity reached by Indian Industry but also the extent of their participation in the overall globalization process.

Here are the top 10 acquisitions made by Indian companies worldwide:

If you calculate top 10 deals itself account for nearly US $ 21,500 million. This is more than double the amount involved in US companies’ acquisition of Indian counterparts.Graphical representation of Indian outbound deals since 2000.

Have a look at some of the highlights of Indian Mergers and Acquisitions scenario as it stands (Source: http://ibef.org)

Indian outbound deals, which were valued at US$ 0.7 billion in 2000-01, increased to US$ 4.3 billion in 2005, and further crossed US$ 15 billion-mark in 2006. In fact, 2006 will be remembered in India’s corporate history as a year when Indian companies covered a lot of new ground. They went shopping across the globe and acquired a number of strategically significant companies. This comprised 60 per cent of the total mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in India in 2006. And almost 99 per cent of acquisitions were made with cash payments.

Mergers and Acquisitions

The total M&A deals for the year during January-May 2007 have been 287 with a value of US$ 47.37 billion. Of these, the total outbound cross border deals have been 102 with a value of US$ 28.19 billion, representing 59.5 per cent of the total M&A activity in India.

The total M&A deals for the period January-February 2007 have been 102 with a value of US$ 36.8 billion. Of these, the total outbound cross border deals have been 40 with a value of US$ 21 billion.

There were 111 M&A deals with a total value of about US$ 6.12 billion in March and April 2007. Of these, the number of outbound cross border deals was 32 with a value of US$ 3.41 billion.

There were 74 M&A deals with a total value of about US$ 4.37 billion in May 2007. Of these, the number of outbound cross border deals was 30 with a value of US$ 3.79 billion.

The sectors attracting investments by Corporate India include metals, pharmaceuticals, industrial goods, automotive components, beverages, cosmetics and energy in manufacturing; and mobile communications, software and financial services in services, with pharmaceuticals, IT and energy being the prominent ones among these.

It is merry time for Indian corporations!