India Inc logs 2,007 deals worth $127 billion last year, down 6% from 2021: Grant Thornton

India Inc recorded 2,007 deals worth $127 billion last year, a 6 percent decline in deal volumes from 2021 despite global macroeconomic conditions, a report found on Friday.



The year also recorded 11 multi-billion-dollar deals worth $82.5 billion and 97 deals valued between $100 and $999 million, amounting to $26.2 billion, according to Grant Thornton Bharat‘s annual deal tracker report.

The year 2022 also saw a 47 percent increase in values ​​thanks to a pair of big deals not seen in any other year.

“It is worth noting that even despite the prospects of a global recession, India is doing well. However, the deal activity experienced two distinct phases as the second half did not experience the highs of the first,” he said. Shanthi Vijetha, Partner Growth at Grant Thornton Bharat.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in India saw 477 deals worth $91.4 billion in 2022, an increase of 200 percent from 2021.

The deal values ​​were driven by the HDFC and HDFC Bank merger ($40 billion), the largest-ever deal in Indian history. However, apart from this deal, the year witnessed a significant increase in values, pointing to the positive outlook of the Indian markets.

The startup and IT sectors dominated the space with 44 percent of total volumes, while the banking and manufacturing sectors led the values, the report said.

“Domestic and outbound M&A continued to grow thanks to a resilient domestic economy, while private equity (PE) investment and inbound M&A slowed due to the funding winter and global uncertainty,” said Vijetha.

The PE space saw 1,530 deals valued at $35.4 billion, including four deals in the billion dollar category and 66 deals valued between $100 million and $999 million, accounting for 63 percent of total PE deal values ​​with only 5 percent of deal volumes.

The startup space attracted the most investment ($7.4 billion across 991 deals) with a slight 8 percent drop in volumes, compared to the 34 percent drop in investment, indicating smaller investment in ticket size, followed by e- commerce, which pulled in $6.6 billion and fell 56 percent in investment.

Bengaluru topped the charts in terms of volumes as most companies were born there, and Mumbai topped the charts in values, accounting for 27 percent of total values.

The year witnessed the second highest number of initial public offerings (IPO) in the past 11 years. However, this translated into 40 IPO listings raising $8.3 billion, a 38 percent drop in volumes and a 53 percent drop in value, the report said.

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