Corporate India went on a shopping spree in July-September of this year with 100 deals amounting to USD 27.7 billion, the highest quarterly value since 2001, says global deal tracking firm Mergermarket.

Quarter-on-quarter, there has been a 212.7 per cent jump in deal value as the previous quarter (April-June) witnessed transactions worth USD 8.8 billion.

“Due to the September quarter’s record performance, YTD (year to date) value of India-targeted M&A activity (USD 46 billion) has already exceeded any annual value on Mergermarket record through a total of 281 deals,” Mergermarket said in a report.

Telecommunications was the India’s most active sector this year in respect of deal value. Its five deals worth USD 16.1 billion announced during January-September accounted for more than one-third of the total deal value across India, the report said.

Grasim Industries’ USD 8 billion acquisition of Aditya Birla Nuvo, and the USD 4.8 billion merger of Aircel with the wireless business of Reliance Communications were the top telecom deals. “While such mega deals are rare, such activity within the telecom sector is likely to retain,” the report stated.

In the September quarter, pharmaceuticals, medical and biotechnology (PMB) rebounded with deals worth USD 2.3 billion.

In-bound deal activity increased by 6.9 per cent to USD 14.2 billion in the September quarter from the same period in 2015 and one of the largest such deals this year was Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical’s USD 1.2 billion acquisition of an 86.1 per cent stake in Indian drug manufacturer Gland Pharma.

Meanwhile, on the private equity front, after a record breaking 2015, PE activity in India cooled. “Buyout activity saw 29 less deals and a 26.3 per cent drop (USD 5.3 billion, 61 deals) compared with 90 deals worth USD 7.2 billion during the same period last year,” the report said.

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