India Inc is on a roll; registers eightfold rise in mergers and acquisitions in March

The month of March saw a significant rise in the number and values of mergers and acquisitions done, with Corporate India striking deals worth $5.4 billion in one month alone. This proves to be an eightfold jump over the same period a year ago, as per a report from the tax, assurance and advisory firm Grant Thornton.

According to the report, there were 48 M&A deals in March 2016, as compared to 43 transactions in March last year, when the deals were valued at $677 million.

This rise in M&A numbers and values is mainly because of two deals that were valued over a billion dollars. While the first one was the acquisition of Tass-Yuryakh oilfield for $1.3 billion by Indian Oil Corp, Oil India and a unit of Bharat Petroleum, the other one was Tokyo-based Yokohama Rubber Co's acquisition of off-highway-tyre manufacturer Alliance Tire Group, which was done for $1,200 million.

This has also upped the deal tally for the first three months of 2016, which now stands at $8,925 million, seeing a 31% jump from the same period last year.

"Primary drivers for M&A growth were the strong outbound interest contributing to over 20 per cent of total deal values and consolidation in the domestic markwith deal values growing by 66 per cent," Prashant Mehra, Partner at Grant Thornton India LLP, said.

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