India Inc recorded 2,007 deals worth $127 billion in 2022, which is a 6 per cent decrease in deal volumes over 2021 (a record year), according to Grant Thornton Bharat’s Annual Dealtracker report.
The report showed that 2022 saw a 47 per cent increase in values on the back of a few marquee deals. The year also recorded 11 multi-billion-dollar deals amounting to $82.5 billion, and 97 deals valued between $100 and $999 million, amounting to $26.2 billion.
Shanthi Vijetha, Partner- Growth at Grant Thornton Bharat, said, “Deal trends for 2021 were carried over into 2022 - be it consumer preference for digital commerce or accelerated adoption of digitisation by businesses. It is worth noting that even against the global outlook for a recession, India has been faring well.”
2 phases in deal activity
However, deal activity witnessed two different phases, as the second half did not see the highs of the first half. Domestic and outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&A) continued to see momentum on the back of a resilient domestic economy, whereas PE investments and inbound M&A slowed down due to the funding winter and global uncertainty, she added.
The Indian M&A space recorded 477 deals worth $91.4 billion in 2022, marking record deal values, a 200 per cent increase compared to 2021. Deal values were driven by the HDFC and HDFC Bank merger ($40 billion), which was the biggest deal ever in Indian history. However, barring this deal, the year witnessed a significant increase in values, showing the positive outlook of the Indian markets.
The start-up and IT sectors dominated the space, with 44 per cent of total volumes, while the banking and manufacturing sectors led the values. A trend witnessed in 2022 was that while new-age sectors such as start-up and e-commerce had more deals, the traditional sectors led in value.
The PE space saw 1,530 deals worth $35.4 billion in the year gone by. This included four deals in the billion-dollar category, and 66 valued between $100 million and $999 million, accounting for 63 per cent of total PE deal values, with only 5 per cent of deal volumes.