Indian outbound M&A rockets to US$13.3 billion in Q1
In the first quarter of 2010, Indian firms invested a staggering
total of US$13.3 billion in 45 mergers and acquisitions involving
foreign targets, according to India Watch, a quarterly review
released today by the leading business and financial adviser Grant
Thornton. The deal value is 75 times higher than in Q1 2009, when
15 outbound deals with a total value of US$228 million were
recorded.
The rise is largely due to the Bharti Airtel
acquisition of Zain Africa BV which was announced in March and
valued at US$10.7 billion. Other notable outbound deals for the
quarter include Fortis Healthcare Ltd's acquisition of a 23.9%
stake in Parkway Holdings Ltd for US$685 million and Essar Minerals
Resources Limited's takeover of Trinity Coal Corporation LLC for
US$600 million.
"The soaring value of Indian M&A
investments abroad dwarfs the value of inbound investments in the
year-to-date, although the increase in the number of Indian M&A
transactions is mainly driven by domestic deals," commented Anuj
Chande, Head of South Asia Group at Grant Thornton UK LLP.
International investors were comparatively
cautious when it came to acquiring Indian assets. There were only
23 inbound M&A transactions with a total deal value of just
over US$1 billion.
Overall, India saw a three-fold jump in the
number of mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of 2010,
while the total value of these deals was four times higher than in
the first quarter of 2009.
India recorded a total of 184 M&A deals
with a combined value of US$17.1 billion (including outbound
deals). Only 59 M&A deals with a combined value of US$4.3
billion were recorded in the same period in 2009.
In terms of domestic deals, the first quarter
of 2010 saw 116 M&A transactions with a total value of US$2.9
billion that involved both an Indian acquirer and target. The deal
number is almost five times higher than in Q1 2009, when only 25
domestic M&A deals had a combined value of US$3.3billion.
The largest inbound deal so far in 2010 has
been the acquisition of Essar Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. for
US$450 million by Transcend Infrastructure Ltd, an affiliate of
American Tower Corp.
"We expect continued outbound activity
and predict increased inbound activity as the international
economy improves," concluded Chande.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
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Alex.Wessendorff@gtuk.com
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