India Inc's Jan-Nov M&A deal tally at USD 82 bn: Report

Corporate India announced merger and acquisition (M&A) deals worth USD 2.3 billion in November taking the cumulative 11-month deal value to USD 82.1 billion, a report said Friday.

According to tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton's latest Dealtracker, November M&A deal tally saw a 27 per cent decline in value terms and 31 per cent drop in terms of number of transactions.

In November 2017, there were 39 deals worth USD 3.2 billion.

Ultratech Cement's acquisition of Binani Cement was the biggest deal in November.

Some of the other major deals announced in November include, Agritrade Resources's acquisition of SKS Power Generation (Chhattisgarh) and Cipla subsidiary InvaGen Pharmaceuticals' acquisition of US-based speciality business firm Avenue Therapeutics.

Till November this year, there have been 437 M&A deals worth USD 82.1 billion as compared to 391 deals worth USD 40.08 billion in the same period last year.

The year so far has registered 14 deals in the billion-dollar category and 46 deals estimated and valued at/over USD 100 million each, together capturing 95 per cent of the total M&A deal values.

Sector-wise, telecom, e-commerce, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, banking, IT and pharma led the deal activity, capturing 93 per cent of the total deal values, the report added.

Referring to the decline in November deal tally Grant Thornton India LLP Director Pankaj Chopda said: "The writing is on the wall that year 2018 will be record-breaking both in terms of deal value and deal volumes, but the closing may not be so grand."