India Inc's January-September M&A deal tally hits its peak at $46 billion

India Inc's merger and acquisition (M&A) activity reached a record level of $46 billion in January-September this year, up 36 per cent in value terms over the whole of 2015, says a report.

According to Mergermarket, there were 278 transactions worth $46 billion in the first nine months of this year while in the whole of 2015, there were 419 deals worth $33.8 billion.

Moreover, the July-September quarter alone witnessed 98 deals worth $27.7 billion, the highest quarterly value on record.

Highest valued deal of this year was Grasim Industries' $8 billion acquisition of Aditya Birla Nuvo. Following this, the telecommunication sector saw five deals worth $16 billion so far this year and this deal tally has overtaken all annual deal values targeting the sector on record, the report said.

According to Mergermarket intelligence, targeted government policies have led to consolidation within the sector.

Meanwhile, M&A activity targeting Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) saw a drop compared to a record 2015. A total of 2,557 deals worth $485 billion have been announced so far in 2016, an 18.3 per cent decrease by value against January-September 2015 when 2,717 deals worth $593.9 billion were announced.

"Asian dealmakers have continued to be dominant on the global scene, with deal value targeting the region accounting for 22 per cent of global M&A, its highest share on record," Mergermarket said.

Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan)'s outbound activity (434 deals, $166.9 billion) achieved a new record during the third quarter by overtaking 2015's annual total, and thereby overtaking all annual deal values on Mergermarket record.

"Activity was heavily bolstered by Chinese activity, with 201 deals worth $141.2 billion accounting for a record 84.7 per cent of Asia's outbound deal value and 46.3 per cent of deal count," the report added.