Rosneft leads with takeover of Essar oil

India Inc’s merger and acquisition activity are estimated at US$46.5 billion for 2017 by Baker McKenzie in its Global Transactions Forecast, which noted favourable regulatory corporate regimes.

The country will see 944 deals this year, boosted by Rosneft’s US$13 billion takeover of Essar Oil.

“M&A activity is expected to continue to gather pace on the back of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi Government’s continued efforts in removing regulatory hurdles and simplifying laws to further attract foreign investment, until it reaches its cyclical peak of US$52.8 billion in 2019,” the report said.

Pending the results of the 2019 national elections, there is potential for more ambitious economic reforms.

“The forecast for 2020 is therefore not set in stone and deal trends could move in either direction,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Indian Initial Public Offer (IPO) market is set to reach the record-breaking value of US$6.8 billion this year.

“The Indian IPO market continues to flourish as retail and institutional investors look for productive avenues to invest in a market with a shrinking interest rate, low bond yields, capped gold investments and real estate investments under scrutiny,” said the report.

“I think the flurry of IPO activities is likely to continue for the rest of this year and well into the early part of 2018, as corporate India seeks to take advantage of a surging Indian equity market,” believes Ashok Lalwani, head of Baker McKenzie’s Global India Practice.

He noted that “as the country prepares for the General Elections in 2019, I will not be at all surprised to see a surge of IPOs by private companies in the next few months before the deal window closes”.

Among domestic listings, financials, industrials and healthcare have been some of the busiest sectors.

Lalwani expects strong deal activity in these sectors and in real estate is expected in the next 18 months. fii-news.com