Indian M&A at record $48 billion this year
28 Jun 2010
Merger and acquisition activity involving Indian firms increased four-fold to touch a record $48.6 billion, so far this year, helped by a multi-billion dollar buyout of Zain Africa by telecom major Bharti Airtel.
According to a report by global deal tracking firm Dealogic, Indian acquisition volume stood at a record $48.6 billion so far this year, up four-fold on 2009 year-to-date.
Bharti's $10.7 billion acquisition of Kuwait-based Zain's African assets was the second largest deal by an Indian company after Tata Steel's Corus acquisition for about $12 billion in 2007.
The Bharti-Zain deal is the largest deal in 2010 in terms of volume for the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) region, according to the Dealogic.
According to experts, mergers and acquisitions have been on the rise in the past few months as Indian companies turned less risk averse, with their growing appetite for inorganic growth.
The BRIC nations' combined M&A volumes were at $193.9 billion in the reviewed period, 50 per cent higher from the corresponding period in 2009.
The BRIC acquisitions, which include domestic as well as cross border acquisitions, by the BRIC countries, make up 17 per cent of global M&A volumes for 2010, in this year so far.