Monthly Dealtracker - March 2022

External risks continued to rise for domestic markets with geopolitical events adding to the existing worries on tightening of liquidity by global central banks amid rising inflation. However, India remained optimistic as the COVID-19 conditions seemingly firmed and both the manufacturing and services PMIs ticked up in Q1 2022. In Q1 2022 (January-February), India Inc. recorded 608 deals worth USD 13.3 billion, up from 408 deals worth USD 12.1 billion recorded in Q1 2021. While this represented a significant 49% increase in the deal volumes, values increased by only 9% compared with Q1 2021.

“Despite headwinds from the pandemic and other uncertainties, deal makers in India are notably optimistic about the prospects for a stronger economy in the current year and therefore, we expect the momentum of deal activity to continue in the coming months of 2022. In particular, demand for new technological capabilities and underlying innovation is anticipated to grow. This is likely to drive M&A deal-making. The start-up ecosystem is expected to continue strong in 2022, fuelled by PE activity, with more new-age companies becoming unicorns,” said
Shanthi Vijetha, Partner, Growth, Grant Thornton Bharat.

Key highlights of the publication

• Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the first quarter of 2022 recorded more than double the volumes registering 167 deals while values declined by 46% at USD 3.9 billion as compared to corresponding period last year
• Start-up, e-commerce, and IT sectors led the deal activity in Q1 2022 together, recording 479 deals valued at USD 8.5 billion.
• Initial public offering (IPO) also recorded only three issues with 60% fall in the issue size at USD 1 billion over Q1 2021, which saw 16 issues valued at USD 2.5 billion.