April 2021 reported over 160 transactions, aggregating to a deal value of USD 13 billion. Domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions led the pack by reporting over 30 transactions aggregating to USD 5 billion, including a couple of transactions in the billion-dollar category.
Triggered by the highest number of private equity (PE) deals in any month, deal statistics set new records in April 2021 by reporting the highest deal volumes in any month since 2011, revealed Grant Thornton Dealtracker.
April 2021 reported over 160 transactions, aggregating to a deal value of USD 13 billion. Domestic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions led the pack by reporting over 30 transactions aggregating to USD 5 billion, including a couple of transactions in the billion-dollar category. With around 120 transactions for the month aggregating to USD 7.6 billion, PE transactions set the record for the highest number and value of transactions since 2011. Consortium funding being the modus operandi of PEs, several investors participated in more than one transaction.
Talking about the spike in deal activity, Prashant Mehra, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat, said, “While the deal record coincides with the peak in COVID-19 cases in the country, it also reflects the importance of the time period between the first wave and second wave, which witnessed several fiscal and economic incentives and created opportunity. While the second wave of the pandemic is threatening to delay the current pace of economic recovery, the current level of economic activities does not seem to have suffered significantly from the localized lockdowns yet. However, the way global economies deal with new variants of the virus in the coming months is likely to pose uncertainty around deal activity with overseas investors. Also, the impact will continue to create opportunities for more transactions going forward and will be a matter of timing.”
Key highlights
• India Inc recorded 161 deals, more than twice the number of deals witnessed in April 2020, with a 50% increase in deal values aggregating USD 13 billion
• Compared with March 2021, April 2021 witnessed heightened activity – deal volumes up by 18% and deal values spiked by 174%
• M&A recorded 42 transactions totaling USD 5.5 billion. While deal volumes increased more than twice the deal volumes y-o-y, deal values fell by 30% owing to the Facebook-Jio Platform deal valued at USD 5.7 billion. However, barring this deal, April 2021 recorded a 2.5 times increase in deal values
• Domestic deal activity accounted for 91% of the overall M&A deal volumes and 76% of the deal values in April 2021
• April 2021 witnessed record PE activity both in terms of deal values and volumes with 119 investments aggregating to USD 7.6 billion, the highest PE activity in any month since 2011
• The month saw five start-up/ e-commerce companies join the esteem unicorn club making a historic month for the Indian startup ecosystem.
• IT&ITES, e-commerce, education, manufacturing, and energy and natural resources were the transaction torchbearers for the month in terms of deal values. Deal volumes were driven by transactions in the start-up, e-commerce and pharma sectors.
Source: Business World
