Telecom industry tops M&A chart in Apr-Dec 2010: Assocham

The telecom industry topped charts in terms of mergers and acquisitions that took place in India in the April-December 2010 period, valued at $58 billion across all sectors, an industry body study has said.

The number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) rose to 222 in the first nine months of the current fiscal compared to 149 in the same period last fiscal, an Assocham study said.

"The rise in these deals provides clear evidence that the Indian industry is consolidating and at the same time aggressively working on global expansion," it said.

Of the total valuation of M&As, telecom sector had the highest share of 28 per cent. The sector saw 10 deals valued at $16.5 billion, the study said.

Among the major outbound deals during the period, India's telecom major Bharti Airtel completed a deal to buy Kuwait-based Zain Telecom's African business for about $10.7 billion, the study said.

In another deal, Bharti Airtel acquired 100 per cent stake of Telecom Seychelles Ltd for $62 million. Also, Reliance Industries bought 95 per cent stake in Infotel Broadband for $1.03 billion, the survey said.

Besides this, other sectors like IT/ITEs, auto, steel, consumer durables and real estate witnessed 146 deals for an amount totaling to $6.48 billion.

Total 98 outbound M&As took place during April-December 2010-11 against 32 in the same period of the last financial year. Of the 222 deals, 103 were domestic deals and 21 inbound, the study said.