India's M&A deal value surges 66% in 2024, bucks global trends of just 10% uptick in value

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in India during the first nine months of this year surged by as much as 66% in value terms compared to the same period in 2023. This means corporate deals, largely mergers and acquisitions, are getting back strongly on their feet, noted a recent report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

This comes right after a steep deal-making dip India experienced between mid-2022 and 2023. Per the 21st edition of BCGs Global M&A Report, companies around the world announced deals worth $1.6 trillion through the first 9 months of 2024, by way of approximately 22,400 transactions. In terms of deal value, this was a 10% uptick from the year ago period.

Even with a marginal decline of 3% in deal volumes, India continued to defy the larger trend of a 13% volume decline, which was observed in the Asia-Pacific region and even globally.

BCG’s M&A Sentiment Index, which reflects how willing dealmakers are to undertake mergers and acquisitions over the next 6 months, is presently at 82, which is towards the lower end of the spectrum.

However, India is outpacing this trend with a 66% surge in M&A activity, as compared to a 5% decline noticed in the wider Asia-Pacific region. Notably, deals within the Asia Pacific region dropped to a 10-year low of $263 billion.

While the major contributors to this decline were the dips in deal values in China (down by 41%) and Australia (down by 7%), there were some bright spots like India and Malaysia, where deal values increased by a massive 132%. Singapore (deal values up by 48%) and Japan (deal value up by 37%) emerged as other major bright spots.

The number of megadeals, i.e., those valued at over $10 billion, failed to reach the levels seen in 2022 and 2023. During the first 9 months of this year, BCG reported a total of 17 megadeals, as opposed to 28 seen in the first 9 months of 2022 and 20 seen until October 2023.

India's deal galore

Some of the most prominent deals made by Indian companies during the first nine months of this year include Bharti Airtel's acquisition of British Telecom Group in August, which was valued at around $4.08 billion and gave Bharti Airtel a 24.5% stake in the British telecommunications company.

In September, Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) announced its merger with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC). Additionally, GSPC Energy Limited (GEL) was also to merge with Gujarat Gas Limited (GGL).

In August 2024, food delivery giant Zomato also completed its acquisition of Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers. Per media reports, while Zomato paid Rs 4,447 crore to buy out Blinkit, the quick commerce company's warehousing and ancillary business was purchased for Rs 61 crore.