INDIA INC ON THE PROWL FOR ACQUISITIONS

After a relative lull, India Inc is showing renewed interest in cracking deals. December 2008 suddenly saw a flurry of outbound M&A activity. Piramal Healthcare, Wipro and Rolta led the way with acquisitions ranging from $10 million (Rs 48.7 crore) to $127 million (Rs 618 crore).

SIFY - Business Today

M&A IN TELECOM LUCRATIVE EVEN IN SLOWING MARKETS

Even as the slowdown has taken toll on the merger and acquisition space, the Indian telecom growth story continues to buy investors’ confidence as the sector has accounted for 33% of the total M&A deals in the fiscal so far with the valuations crossing US$9.15bn.

India Infoline

Indian and Chinese firms go shopping for Western companies

It appears that Tata’s purchase of the Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus at the start of this year at $11.3 billion dollars, has given a boost to Asian companies to go for shopping of companies in the Western world. The deal has been ranked sixth best deal of the World in 2007 by Time magazine.The Tata’s acquisition of Corus reverses the trend of western companies acquiring firms of Asia. The hunger of Tata for acquisitions in the Western world is just the beginning. The trend is increasing with each passing day. Latest in series is the Jaguar and Land Rover brands of the car making company Ford, of Britain. Tata is going to acquire the two car brands and unit produce these cars at an expense in excess one billion pounds. Several other companies like Hindalco have also gone for outright purchases of Western companies.

Meri News
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=128715

M&As were toast of season for India Inc in 2007

India's corporate honchos spent a considerable time and energy this year at deal tables and executed over thousand transactions involving sale or purchase of equity stakes in their companies. On an average, every single day of 2007 saw about three deals being announced. This included a total of 1,047 merger and acquisitions as well as private equity deals for a total value of $68.32 billion (about Rs 2,75,000 crore).

The Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
MAs_were_toast_of_season_for_India_Inc_in_2007/articleshow/2633288.cms

India Inc signs deals worth $68.32 b in 2007

India Inc was on a shopping spree in 2007, striking deals including merger and acquisition (M&A) and private equity investment worth $68.32 billion against $28.16 billion last year, a rise of 142.61 per cent, according Grant Thornton’s Dealtracker It was $18.35 billion in 2005. The average Indian M&A deal size was close to $77 million, while the average Indian PE deal size was around $44 million in 2007. Corporate India signed 661 M&A deals valued $51.17 billion in 2007 against 480 deals worth $20.30 billion in 2006.

The Hindu Business Line
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/12/21/stories/2007122151380300.htm