India emerging a net exporter of takeover deals: KPMG

21 August 2008

Mumbai: While it has predicted a decline in global M&A dealmaking (See: Decline in global deal activity predicted) consulting firm KPMG says that acquisitions by Indian firms will soon outnumber those inbound deals involving foreign firms snapping up Indian targets.

Overseas acquisitions by Indian companies in the developed countries from 2003 to 2007 stood at 322 finished deals against reverse deals of a total 340 during the same period, KPMG said in a study, released as part of the Emerging Markets International Acquisition Tracker (EMIAT), shows .

The EMIAT tracks trade buyer deals between emerging and developed economies on a six-monthly basis from the start of 2003 using data sourced from Zephyr.

With outbound deals of late having outnumbered inbound deals for each of the last three six-month periods, India seems well set to become a net 'deal exporter' in the next EMIAT in 2009, the report said.

''This is testament to the growing power of the Indian corporate base. At a time when everyone is talking about the credit crunch and sovereign wealth funds, Indian trade buyers have simply continued doing what they've been doing for several years now. As acquirers, they are now serious players on the world scene. In sporting terms, there is strength in depth here too; this is not just about the headline acquisition of Indian titans such as Tata.

This is about an ability to strike overseas deals filtering down throughout the Indian corporate scene,'' Ian Gomes, chairman of KPMG's New and Emerging Markets practice for KPMG in the UK, said.