Merger & Acquisitions picking up in India

It is a good opportunity for discerning Indian investors to grab some cool deals as many Indian companies are going in for big time merger and acquistion activities. Corporate honchos are fishing for companies that might prove be a strategic fit in their existing portfolios and add value to the long term plans. And this time around, the relatively smaller companies are more proactively homing in on ambitious targets for takeovers. Mergers and acquisitions are no more a reserved playing field for the big and mighty. While Procter & Gamble’s acquisition of Gillette in a $57 billion deal dwarfs the $800 million (Rs 3,600 crore) deal for a controlling stake in ACC by Holcim - the Zurich-headquartered second largest cement producer in the world - and Dabur’s Rs 143 crore acquisition of Balsara as well as Videocon’s recent acquisition of Thomson’s colour picture tube unit in Anagnani, Italy, what’s clearly evident is that businesses are increasingly opening up to growth through the inorganic route. Analysts attribute picking up of M&A activities in the country to India's rapidly evolving economy. They are also equivocal on the year 2005 to be much better than last year in terms of M&As. Most of the analysts expect things to hotten up as the economy further opens up and people with a long-term view eye opportunities.