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| 'Banks must be incentivised for divestment's success' | | Q&A: Madhur Deora, Director, Global Investment Banking, Citi |
| Abhineet Kumar / Mumbai Mar 11, 2010, 00:32 IST |
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 Citi’s director for global investment banking Madhur Deora is upbeat on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and sees no problem with high valuation demanded by Indian players. In an interview, he tells Abhineet Kumar that the rules for banking and telecom sectors could make consolidation tougher and suggests that investment banks need to be paid better for disinvestment of government stake in public sector companies. Excerpts:
The government is looking to raise Rs 40,000 crore through disinvestment next year, essentially through public offers. Are changes in the fee structure required?
You are right to point out that the fee to investment banks for the government’s disinvestment programme is very different from the fee given by the private sector. In certain cases, merchant bankers bear a substantial part of the cost of a deal. The government has a large divestment programme, whose success is very important to meet the debt target. It is critical for public sector companies to work with the most qualified merchant bankers having great technical expertise and experience, best distribution and marketing capabilities, and banks should be properly incentivised.
Will there be consolidation in the telecom sector post the auction of 3G spectrum?
It really depends on who wins the 3G spectrum and who does not. Also, it is hard to comment without clarity on the M&A policy with respect to spectrum and licence. At present, there are different restrictions with respect to M&A policy for licensees, particularly restrictions on sale within a specific period of time. Clearly, if such restrictions exist, the licensee will not be able to sell even if they want to. Companies, which are in the mid-tier and not winners of the 3G spectrum, may become consolidation targets. Whether the acquirers will be existing players or international companies interested in entering the Indian market, we will wait and see.
Is consolidation in the banking sector distinctly away, given the move on issuing fresh licences?
The Indian banking sector is very attractive whether from the perspective of new Indian entrants or foreign companies interested in entering or expanding their presence here. The move to award banking licences clearly creates an alternative route for companies to enter the sector. However, one of the key reasons why we have not seen a lot of consolidation so far is ownership restrictions for acquirers.
There are only a few banks where there are significant shareholders, and any acquirer is unlikely to be allowed to acquire more than 10 per cent, subject to RBI approval, and 5 per cent, if they already have a share in a bank.
Going forward, what sort of M&A activity do you see in India? Are we going to witness the levels seen in 2007-08?
When we think of M&A activity, we think of three different categories. One is outbound deals. We have identified a few “India Champions”, generally market leaders in their segments, who will and should acquire international companies. For ambitious companies, who want to expand their global presence, more capital is available now than it was 12-24 months ago. This, coupled with continued pressure in the western markets, will certainly lead to more transactions. We are most likely to see jumbo, multi-billion dollar transactions in the outbound arena.
Then, on the inbound side, in certain sectors, we will continue to see increasing amount of activity. In certain sectors, we have seen reasonable recovery in the global markets, and there will be more inbound activity. In some sectors, where recovery is still underway, there may still be pressure on liquidity, but we should see more activity in the next 12 to 24 months.
Also, domestic consolidation in some sectors will be very compelling.
Is valuation an issue?
Higher valuations in India are justified, as it is a high growth market and for any asset which is up for sale, there will be a lot of competition. There will be perhaps be a limited number of opportunities, especially control opportunities, which may drive up valuations. But, we will continue to see a substantial amount of inbound activity.
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