India’s M&A Deals Surge

Mar. 19 – Indian mergers and acquisition activity has surged in the last two months making 2010 a record year for M&A activity.

During the first two months of the year, M&A deals totaled to more than US$5 billion. A return to massive takeovers is set to happen when Indian mobile phone giant Bharti buys the African assets of Zain Telecom for US$10.7 billion.The Bharti deal alone is more than half of the total value of M&A and private equity deals announced in 2009 worth US$21.20 billion. So far majority of Indian M&A has come from just five sectors：oil and gas, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and biotechnology.

“Indian M&A is getting back to pre-crisis levels, however there are still some well priced assets around,” said Chris Devonshire-Ellis, the managing partner for Dezan Shira & Associates in India. “Buying an existing Indian company, especially those involved in new technologies or infrastructure is a quick way to get early access into what is going to be a very hot market for the next few years.”