Mergers & Acquisition Deals Dipped by 45% in October Among India Inc

Corporate India witnessed merger and acquisition deals worth USD 1.5 billion through 28 transactions in October, registering a 45 per cent decline over the same month last year, a report said on Thursday.

According to Grant Thornton’s latest M&A Dealtracker, there were 28 M&A deals worth USD 1.5 billion in October this year, while in the same period last year 47 such deals were announced worth USD 2.8 billion.

While the overall M&A deal value and volume in October declined as compared to the year-ago period, on a month-on-month basis, there was an increase, showing signs of improved sentiments.

“This was driven by the corporate tax cut, which has improved both investor sentiment and confidence. This also resulted in the average deal size more than doubling from USD 24 million in September 2019 to USD 55 million in October 2019,” the report said.

The energy sector dominated October’s M&A in terms of values with 64 per cent contribution to total M&A deals, driven by the largest bet on India’s clean energy with Total SA’s 37 per cent stake acquisition in Adani Gas for USD 0.9 billion. Other sectors that attracted major deals during October include pharma, automotive, banking and energy.