Top 10 Indian Mergers and Acquisitions!

[Updated] We have recently published the top 10 mergers and acquisition deals for 2014. You can click here to check it.

At Trak.in, we’ve been giving you regular updates of the big India funding deals and the top Mergers & Acquisitions through the year. According to a report by Grant Thornton, the value of Indian M & As declined 56 percent in the Q3 for 2011. And according to Dealogic, “India’s targeted volume decreased 33 percent from 65.1 billion dollars in 2010 to 43.7 billion dollars in 2011.” Let’s see which deals got into the top 10 spot this year, in no particular order.

The Reliance – BP deal

The much talked about Reliance – BP deal finally came through in July 2011 after a 5 month wait. Reliance Industries signed a 7.2 billion dollar deal with UK energy giant BP, with 30 percent stake in 21 oil and gas blocks operated in India. Although the Indian government’s approval on two oil blocks still remains pending, this still makes it one of the biggest FDI deals to come through in India Inc in 2011-12-31.

Essar exits Vodafone

In March 2011, the Vodafone Group announced that it would buy 33 percent stake in its Indian joint venture for about 5 billion dollars after the Essar Group sold its holding and exited Vodafone. Healthcare giant Piramal Group too, bought about 5.5 percent in the Indian arm of Vodafone for about 640 million dollars. This brings Vodafone’s current stake to about 75 percent.

The Fortis Healthcare merger

In September 2011, India’s second largest hospital chain, Fortis Healthcare (India) Ltd, announced that it will merge with Fortis Healthcare International Pte Ltd., the promoters’ privately held company. This will make Fortis Asia’s top healthcare provider with the approximate total revenue pegged at Rs. 4,800 crore. Fortis India will buy the entire stake of the Singapore based Fortis International. This company is currently held by the Delhi-based Singh brothers (Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh).

iGate acquires majority stake in Patni Computers

In May 2011, IT firm iGate completed its acquisition of its midsized rival Patni Computers for an estimated 1.2 billion dollars. For iGate, the main aim of this acquisition was to increase its revenue, vertical capability and customer base. iGate now holds an approximate stake of 82.5 percent in Patni computers, now called iGate Patni.

GVK Power acquires Hancock Coal

In one of the biggest overseas acquisitions initiated by India in September 2011, Hyderabad-based GVK Power bought out Australia’s Hancock Coal for about 1.26 billion dollars. The acquisition includes a majority of the coal resources, railway line and port infrastructure of Hancock Coal, along with the option for long term coal supply contracts.

Essar Energy’s Stanlow Refinery Deal with Royal Dutch Shell

The Ruias’ flagship company for its oil business, Essar Energy completed its 350 million dollar acquisition of the UK based Stanlow Refinery of Shell in August 2011. In addition to a direct access to the UK market, Essar is planning to make optimum utilization of this deal with its ‘100 day plan’ to improve operations at the UK unit.

Aditya Birla Group to acquire Columbian Chemicals

In June 2011, the Aditya Birla Group announced its completion of acquiring US based Columbian Chemicals, a 100 year old carbon black maker company for an estimated 875 million dollars. This will make the Aditya Birla Group one of the largest carbon black maker companies in the world, doubling its production capacity instantly.

Mahindra & Mahindra acquires Ssangyong

In March 2011, Mahindra acquired a 70 percent stake in ailing South Korean auto maker Ssangyong Motor Company Limited (SYMC) at a total of 463 million dollars. This acquisition will see the Korean company’s flagship SUV models, the Rexton II and the Korando C foray into the Indian market.

The Vedanta – Cairn acquisition

December 2011 finally saw the completion of the much talked about Vedanta – Cairn deal that was in the pipeline for more than 16 months. Touted to be the biggest deal for Indian energy sector, Vedanta acquired Cairn India for a neat 8.6 billion dollars. Although the Home Ministry cleared the deal, it has highlighted areas of concern with 64 legal proceedings against Vedanta.

Adani Enterprises takes over Abbot Point Coal

In June 2011, Adani acquired the Australian Abbot Point Port for 1.9 billion dollars. With this deal, the revenues from port operations are expected to almost triple from 110 million Australian dollars to 305 million Australian dollars in 2011. According to Adani, this was amongst the largest port deals ever made.