Dealmaking winter for India Inc

Mumbai: Dealmaking activity witnessed a huge decline in January, with only 145 transactions worth $2.7 billion being undertaken by India Inc, a report said on Monday.By value, the overall flows suffered due to the absence of any big-ticket deal and were 56 per cent down as compared to $6.12 billion in the year-ago period, and 62 per cent down compared to the previous month, the report by consultancy firm Grant Thornton said.

The volumes were down 41 per cent when compared with 244 deals in January 2022, while the same were down by three per cent as compared to the preceding month of December.

"India managed to account for record deal values last year (2022), which made investors hopeful about the future. However, the deal momentum in January 2023 did not match the expectation and witnessed a declining trend," its partner Shanthi Vijetha said.

The mergers and acquisition (M&A) deal volumes declined by 62 per cent at 26 deals worth $311 million, an 88 per cent decrease compared to January 2022, it said. The M&A segment continued to be dominated by domestic deals, it said, adding that at $270 million, the monthly value was lowest since May 2022. Private equity (PE) investments recorded 119 deals valued over $2.4 billion, it said, adding that while both volumes and values declined compared to January 2022, there was a 28 per cent increase in deal volumes and a 30 per cent increase in deal values when compared with December 2022. Pharma, healthcare and biotech stood at the top in terms of overall deal values, recording six deals valuing $921 million, most of which was contributed by two big-ticket transactions in the PE space, it added.