Corporate India’s merger and acquisition activity moderated in May as deals worth USD 1.9 billion were announced, registering a decline of 9 per cent from last year, says a Grant Thornton report.
According to the global tax, audit and assurance firm, there were 37 M&A deals worth USD 1,861 million in May while in the same period last year there were 47 deals worth USD 2,046 million.
In terms of number of deals also there was a decline of 21 per cent over the corresponding period last year. “M&A contribution has come in primarily from inbound deal activity, which contributed USD 1.1 billion to deal values, while outbound activity seems to have declined significantly,” Prashant Mehra — Partner at Grant Thornton India said.
A sector wise analysis shows IT&ITeS along with start-ups and e-commerce segments have ruled the sector trends this month contributing almost 45 per cent to the total deal values. “Increasing consolidation is driving deal volumes in the start-up sector with the month also witnessing some big ticket deals in sectors such as IT&ITeS and banking and financial services,” the report said.
Energy and natural resources is the other dominant sector which contributed another 40 per cent to total deal values. Large transactions such as JSW Energy’s acquisition of Jindal Steel and Power’s 1,000 mw power plant in Chhattisgarh for USD 606 million and Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s acquisition of GMR Energy for USD 300 million drove transaction values in this sector.
Going forward, Mehra said “on M&A side focus will again be limited to domestic M&A activities. The ongoing banking reforms around debt consolidation and restructuring will further boost the deal activity through availability of debt for organic growth. Thus, internal accruals would finance inorganic growth.”