The value of announced merger and acquisition (M&A) deals involving Indian companies more than doubled to reach $129.4 billion in 2018, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. The previous highest was $67.4 billion in 2007. The number of announced deals also grew 17.2% from a year ago. Average M&A deal size for transactions with disclosed values increased to $127.8 million in 2018 compared to $82.8 million in the previous year. M&A activity was led by domestic deals at $57.3 billion, more than double the value from the previous all-time high of $26.7 billion in 2017. The number of announced domestic deals rose 17% from 2017. Total cross-border M&A activity more than doubled to $69.2 billion in 2018 from the previous year, largely due to growth in inbound M&A activity. Inbound M&A, or foreign firms acquiring Indian companies, reached $55.8 billion in 2018, to post a 77% increase in deal value from $31.5 billion in 2017. Private equity-backed M&A also witnessed strong activity, growing 72% in 2018.

(Live Mint)