India-targeted M&As touch $21.7 bn: Mergermarket

India targeted merger and acquisition deals reached USD 21.7 billion in the first 9 months of this year, up 22.4 per cent year-on-year, according to Mergermarket.
The value of India-targeted M&A for the entire 2014 is likely to surpass the 2013 annual total of USD 22.3 billion, said the global deal tracking firm.
"As a result of impressive Q2, the value of India- targeted M&As so far this year is valued at USD 21.7 billion, up 22.4 per cent from the same period of 2013 (USD 17.7 billion), and likely that 2014 will surpass 2013 annual total of USD 22.3 billion," Mergermarket said.

However, despite a significant uptrend, India accounts for just 5 per cent of the Asia-Pacific's total M&A, USD 429.6 billion.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the July-September deal tally dropped 65.2 per cent to USD 4.7 billion. The second quarter had seen deals worth USD 13.6 billion, one of the highest valued quarters on record.
Sector-wise, the pharma, medical and biotech sector was the most active this year so far with deals worth USD 5.1 billion, accounting for 23.4 per cent market share. This was largely driven by the USD 4 billion Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy deal, the report said.
Inbound M&As into India were valued at USD 10.2 billion, down 15.6 per cent from the same period last year, the report said, adding that "investors are likely to be waiting for new rules to become official that will entice more inbound investment in the medium to long term".

In terms of outbound M&As, though there have been more number of transactions, in terms of deal value it amounted to just USD 1.2 billion, down from USD 7.9 billion, indicating that very small deals are being made, it said.