Mar. 27 - Mergers and Acquisitions are dominating India’s phenomenal growth story. 2007 was the year when corporate India spent almost as much money acquiring global companies as international companies spent acquiring Indian ones. The Hindu Business Line reported that Domestically, 2007 saw another record year of deal activity, with total mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and private equity (PE) deals up 82 percent from Rs 865 billion (US$21 billion) in 2006 to Rs 1,576 billion (US$38 billion) in 2007. Comparatively, Indians bought up companies in Europe and the US, splashing out some Rs 1,367 billion (US$33 billion). The Teleom, finance, cement and building materials, oil and gas and metals sectors formed the bulk of India’s global M&A activity.

Major deals that were signed during the year are as follows:

In all, there were 223 deals worth Rs 1,367 billion ($33 billion) registering a massive growth of 300 per cent over the previous year (140 deals worth $ 8 billion). The average deal size increased from $58 million in 2006 to $150 million in 2007.