M&A activity in India fell 51.4 per cent to $41.6 billion in the first half of 2019, after a record H1 last year, according to a report by Refinitiv, a global provider of financial markets data owned by Blackstone Group and Thomson Reuters.

According to the study, target India M&A activity stood at $38.3 billion, down 53.2 per cent from the same period last year, while total cross-border deals slowed down as inbound M&A activity fell 64.5 per cent from a year ago to reach $14.3 billion.

The US, Japan and China respectively accounted for 26.3 per cent, 12.3 per cent and 10.5 per cent of the market share of India’s inbound activity. Outbound M&A transactions fell 42.6 per cent from the same period last year to $1.7 billion.

The US was the most targeted nation in terms of value and number of acquisitions by Indian companies, with 26 deals worth $665.4 million, or a 39.7 per cent market share. Domestic M&A activity also dropped 42.1 per cent in value compared with H1 2018, and totalled $24 billion.

The majority of the deal-making activity targeted the financial sector, which saw $13.7 billion in deals, up 7.2 per cent from a year ago, and captured 33 per cent of the market share.

The top two deals involving India, worth above $1 billion, targeted the financial sector, including Bandhan Bank’s pending merger with Gruh Finance for $3.2 billion.

Power Finance Corp’s acquisition of a majority stake in REC Ltd for $2.1 billion was the other billion-dollar deal involving India announced so far this year.

The Energy & Power sector captured a 13.5 per cent market share worth $5.6 billion, a 54.5 per cent decline in value compared to H1 2018.

Technology rounded up the top three industries with a 12.7 per cent market share and stood at $5.3 billion, a 270.4 per cent increase from a year ago.

Investment banking
India’s investment banking activities generated $522.9 million in H1 2019, a 10.8 per cent rise from the same period last year.

The nation’s equity capital markets reached a four-year high, raising $13.2 billion so far this year, up 28.7 per cent in proceeds from the comparable period in 2018, and the highest H1 period since 2015 ($13.7 billion).