Jan-Mar M&A deal rose in value but dropped in volume terms

India’s mergers and acquisitions deal tally for the quarter ended March 2017 rose 27.82 billion USD, majorly driven by Idea and Vodafone merger. The overall figure for the quarter reached 33.7 billion USD from 300 deals, out of which Idea-Vodafone contributed 80%. However, in volume terms, the figure dropped by 27% from the same period last year, which means that the activity was majorly led by big-ticket deals.

Idea and Vodafone merger is one of the largest deal which is estimated at 27 billion USD. Sans this merger the overall value of M&As would have fallen by 39%.

Strengthening capital markets and easing credits led to 10 times growth in the deal values. Consolidation in the domestic market drove M&A value growth. However, because of the weak global cues, the cross-border M&A deals are yet to pick up pace. Nevertheless, considering the interest of investors in the major emerging economies, dealings majorly in healthcare, telecom, e-commerce and infra are expected to be boosted.

Globally, M&A witnessed a good kick off to the year 2017. The deals amounted to 678.5 billion USD, registering 8.9% rise over corresponding period of last year. Even here, in volume terms the deals dropped 17.8% to 3554. Prevailing uncertainties in Europe amid ongoing elections led to lowest ever inbound quarterly M&A activity since 2014. Moreover, China too faced a decline in cross border M&A amid stricter regulations on the values crossing 2 billion USD.