India Inc's Jan-Jun deal tally at $74.8 bn on big-ticket deals, jumps 90%

India Inc's M&A value for the first half of this year stood at $65.5 billion, up 112% over the same period last year

Corporate India announced deals worth $74.8 billion in the January-June period, registering a 90 per cent jump over last year, largely driven by big ticket consolidations, says a report.

According to Grant Thornton's Dealtracker report, the year so far has witnessed deals (both merger and acquisition and private equity) worth $74.8 billion through 638 deals as against $39.3 billion by way of 610 transactions in January-June 2017.

"The various reforms of the government, such as Goods and Service Tax (GST), Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Housing for All and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), had a visible positive effect in the first half of 2018. However, it would take some time to realise the full benefits of these reforms," said Prashant Mehra, Partner, Grant Thornton India LLP.

Key growth drivers for the deal activity continue to be big ticket consolidation both domestic and inbound supported by high-value private equity investments.

India Inc's M&A value for the first half of this year stood at $65.5 billion, up 112 per cent over the same period last year.

While, PE investments witnessed 12 per cent growth in investment values on account of increased big ticket investments.

Sectors like e-commerce, telecom, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, banking and real estate attracted big-ticket transactions and investments during the first half of this year.

According to Mehra M&A activity is expected to pick up given the IBC amendments recently passed by Parliament, as several distressed assets are likely to come up for sale at attractive valuations.

"This is especially true for capital-intensive sectors such as real estate, infrastructure, power and cement," he said.

Moreover, a good capital market and strong regulatory reforms, including the insolvency law, are signs of depth and maturity, and this makes the Indian market attractive, he added.