Private sector lender HDFC Banks merger with Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP) has driven India Inc's merger and acquisition deal volumes to 2.9 billion dollar in February this year.
The total number of M&A deals announced in the month of February this year stood at 36 with a total announced value of 2.95 billion dollar and the most significant deal was the merger of two financial entities HDFC Bank and CBoP, global consultancy firm Grant Thornton said.
The other most significant deal was the acquisition of 17.2 per cent stake by Walt Disney Company in UTV Software Communication for consolidating its stake to 32.10 per cent in the domestic media company.
It is interesting to note that there were 102 M&A deals with a total value of about 36.80 billion dollar in January and February 2007.
M&A volumes surged to record levels as two significant deals such as — Tata Steel's acquisition of Corus valued at 13.6 billion dollars and Hindalco's acquisition of Novelis valued at 6 billion dollars — were announced in that period.
This year in January, the total number of M&A deals that were announced stood at 56, with a total announced value of 3.01 billion dollar.
In M&A space this year, cross-border deals continue to outnumber domestic transactions.
While there were 17 domestic deals in February 2008, wherein both acquirer and target companies were Indian with an announced value of 2.47 billion dollar, there were 19 cross-border deals with an announced value of 0.47 billion dollar, Grant Thornton added.
Source: Economic Times