M&A deals in India in 2008 totalled worth $19.8 bn

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the country came down in
2007-08 to $19.8 billion as compared to $33.1 billion previous fiscal, says
Dun & Bradstreet, a company providing global business information, knowledge
and insight.

According to the company,  the decline of M&A activity was in line with the
global activity. The average size of such deals in FY08 stood at $23.4
million, far lower than that of the $70.5 million in FY07, said Manoj Vaish,
president and CEO, India, Dun & Bradstreet.

Vaish was speaking at a conference jointly organised by Dun & Bradstreet and
Religare Capital Markets today.

Also speaking at the event, Amitabh Kumar, director general, Competition
Commission of India (CCI) said: "In the latest act proposed, it is mandatory
for companies involved in M&As to notify CCI about the proposed deals
(merger, amalgamation, acquisition) if the individual company's combined
assets are at least Rs 10 bn or if combined annual revenues are at least Rs
30 billion".

"Cross border M&As have become a fundamental characteristic of the global
business landscape. These M&As are one mode of entry for foreign direct
investors to host economies. As business increasingly spans across borders,
cross border transactions continue to increase across industries.  And as
domestic industries consolidate and surviving companies build scale,
companies begin to look outside their borders for growth" said Kiran
Vaidya, president – Group M&A, Religare Capital Markets Ltd.