New Delhi, July 21 (UNI) India Inc signed 1,149 deals valued at $104.3 billion in the first half of this year, amid global uncertainties, and the country saw $6 billion from 17 IPOs – the highest values raised in the first six months, a report showed on Thursday. The figures represent a significant 34 percent increase in the overall deal volumes, while deal values more than doubled (with a 143 percent increase) from the same period last year, according to the Grant Thornton Bharat Dealtracker report.
Driven by HDFC Bank and HDFC Ltd’s $40 billion merger, LTI and Mindtree merger ($17.7 billion), and Adani Group-Holcim Ltd’s $10.5 billion deal, M&A deal values recorded an over two times increase over H1 2021. These three deals alone accounted for 86 percent of the total M&A deal values in H1 2022.
“Amid macro-economic stress, the overall deal sentiment for 2022 is expected to continue given the support from the government on infrastructure spending, supply-side response and key fiscal measures,” said Shanthi Vijetha, Partner, Growth, Grant Thornton Bharat.
“However, corporates and more importantly PE/VCs may employ a cautiously optimistic approach as the impact of the global economic slowdown on the Indian economy becomes evident,” Vijetha added. While private equity deal activity continued to dominate total deal volumes with 3/4th share, deal values were driven by mergers and acquisitions with 76 percent of the total deal values in H1 2022.
Start-up, e-commerce, and IT sectors led deal activity in H1 2022, driving 76 percent of all deals followed by retail, education, and pharma sectors. The M&A space witnessed a significant increase in the first half, witnessing 284 deals while representing a 27 percent growth over H1 2021.
The banking and financial sector had the highest contribution of 53 percent in terms of overall deal value in H1 2022, followed by the IT and manufacturing sectors. The private equity and venture capital investments saw record volumes and values in the first six-month period with 865 deals at $25.1 billion.
