M&A deals jump three-fold to $12 bn in Q1 2015: Report

The value of deals announced by corporate India registered more than three-fold jump at $12.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, says a report.

Mergermarket, a global deal tracking firm, said there were 86 deals worth $12.1 billion announced in the first quarter of 2015 up from 76 deals worth $3.6 billion in the same period a year ago.

This is the highest number of deals in the January-March quarter in recent years as per the firm's record.

The average deal value during the period under review stood at $227.7 million, a little behind the five-year record high of $243.5 million reached in second quarter of 2014.

Sectorwise, industrial and chemical were the most actively targeted sectors in the first quarter, attracting 13 deals worth $4.1 billion.

"This sector featured the largest deal of the quarter -- a mandatory offer launched by the consortium led by Dilip Shanghvi, the founder of Sun Pharmaceutical, to acquire Suzlon Energy for $3.1 billion," the report said.

The energy, mining and utilities sector recorded the highest deal count of all sectors with 15 deals, but the total value stood at just $202 million, registering a significant downside over last year, due to a number of smaller and undisclosed-value deals.

Inbound deals were the flavour of the quarter as the deals value in this segment stood at $5.8 billion in quarter, up 31.3 per cent over the previous quarter.

For the period under review, despite a drop in the number of such transactions, total deal value rose by 73.7 per cent over last year to $1.7 billion, driven by large-sized investments.

Technology sector held a dominant position in buyout activity and accounted for over 48 per cent of market share.

Meanwhile, the number of exit deals recorded in the March quarter reached record high with 17 announced deals, nine more compared with the previous quarter, the report said.