Oct M&A at $650 mn, lowest in 12 months: report

India Inc's shopping spree suffered a setback in October in which merger and acquisition (M&A) deals worth only $650 million were announced-- the lowest monthly M&A transaction value since October 2009.

According to data compiled by research firm VCCEdge, the M&A value in October stood at $650 million, a sharp decline from the $2 billion witnessed in the previous month.

However on a year-on-year basis, the deal volume as well as value saw an increase.

The highest number M&A deals were recorded in March this year with 72 transactions worth $14.35 billion. Previously, the maximum number of deals was in February, 2007 when it touched $19.29 billion in 39 deals, the report said.

The average deal amount in October this year was $36 million, a nine per cent increase from last month. In terms of deal size, transactions under $50 million accounted for 81 per cent of the total volume, the report said.

The most targetted sector in October was the consumer discretionary sector, which attracted 18 deals valued at $158 million. However in terms of deal value, financials emerged at the top, recording acquisitions worth $369 million through 6 deals.

The largest deal was Fortis Healthcare acquisition of healthcare business of China-based Quality Healthcare Asia for $200 million.

Healthcare sector saw six deals worth $265 million.

ABG Shipyard's acquisition of 60.2 per cent stake in Western India Shipyard for around $64 million was the second biggest deal in the month, the report added.

The other top deal of the month was Suzlon Energy’s acquisition of 41.25 million equity shares representing 17.1 per cent stake in Pune-based SE Forge from IDFC Private Equity for a price of $42 million.

The top 5 M&A deals accounted for 42 per cent of total M&A deal value in October 2010, VCCEdge said.