India Inc logged M&A, PE deals worth US$ 60.5 billion in 2017

New Delhi : Corporate India’s deal tally including M&A and private equity (PE) amounted to around $60.5 billion in 2017, driven by big-ticket consolidation. The outlook for this year looks bullish too, says a report. There were 1,147 deals (M&A and PE) worth $ 60.54 billion in 2017 against 1,485 such transactions worth USD 57.85 billion in 2016, according to the Grant Thornton report. “This momentum was largely driven by big ticket consolidation across sectors as companies divested distressed assets in an effort to reduce debt. On the other hand, corporates with strong balance sheets drove acquisitions to capture the market share and increase competitiveness,” Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Prashant Mehra said. On the M&A front, the year saw 411 deals valued at USD 40 billion, continuing the declining trend after peaking in 2015. The fall in the deal tally is mainly due to the absence of multi-billion-dollar deals. The telecom sector led the M&A deal activity in terms of total deal values, with six deals in the USD 100 million club which cumulatively contributed to $25 billion, capturing over 60% of total M&A deal values. Banking and pharma also garnered big-ticket deals contributing 14% to deal values. Start-ups and IT & ITeS witnessed highest consolidation in 2017, capturing over 40 per cent of volumes.