Deal activity jumps 22% in first 9 months to USD 36.2 billion

The overall deal activity in the country grew 22 per cent in the first nine months of the year to USD 36.2 billion with the total number of deals at 886, according to Grant Thornton report.
The total volume of deals done in the same period of 2013 stood at USD 29.7 billion with 694 deals, according to Grant Thornton's quarterly dealtracker report.
"While the year began on a rather cautionary note, the deal pace started picking up in the months closer to the elections and the momentum kept increasing thereafter, signalling positive vibes for the months and quarters to come," Grant Thornton India partner Raja Lahiri said in the report.

During January-September period, the total number of merger and acquisitions that took place stood at 441, worth USD 27.817 billion. In the similar period, the total merger and acquisition was USD 21.699 billion with 372 deals.
During the period, the PE deals were worth USD 8.45 billion and their number stood at 445.
Inbound merger and acquisition deals stood at USD 9.698 billion with 129 deals in the first nine months as against USD 5.685 billion with 103 deals in the year ago period.

The report said there is a continuous uptick in private equity deal values and volumes, with over 50 percent deal volume from private equity/venture capital investments alone.

Lahiri said an increase across segments from domestic, inbound, outbound to private equity in both values and volumes implies a revival in business sentiments and investment climate.
"We have seen merger and acquisition values driven by the pharma sector with deals such as Sun-Ranbaxy merger indicating the consolidation trend in the sector, and GlaxoSmithKline consolidating operations by hiking the stake in the domestic subsidiary," Lahiri said.