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India along with Japan and China is among the top five countries in the Asia-Pacific region to enter into merger and acquisition deals in the first three months of this year, despite the economic slowdown that has impacted the overall mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity in the region.
M&A activity in Asia Pacific region has dropped on an average by nearly 30 per cent to USD 160 billion in the first quarter of 2009 as against USD 223.21 billion in the corresponding period last year, as per data compiled by global deal tracking firm Zephyr.
India is among the top five countries in the region in terms of the number of M&A activities in the first three months of 2009 with 331 deals, even as the deals saw a 72 per cent decline when compared with the same period the previous year.
According to the report, the country had witnessed 571 deals in the first quarter of last year, while they had been as low as 176 in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Japan occupies the topmost position with as many as 904 M&A deals in the first quarter of 2009, followed by Australia (636), Republic of Korea (620), China (611) and India with 331 deals, the Zephyr quarterly M&A report said.
However,if seen in terms of value of the deals, India ranks 8th with deals worth USD 6.85 billion in the reviewed period. In value terms, Australia has emerged at the top with M&A deals worth USD 35.06 billion, followed by Japan (USD 33 billion), Korea (USD 24.3 billion) and China (USD 22.9 billion).
As per the report, "The first quarter of 2009 brought declines in both volume and value for Asia Pacific, showing the region has not been immune to the global economic downturn."
The number of deals in the region has dropped by 24 per cent from 5,194 to 3,952 deals in the first three months of 2008.
Interestingly, all the top ten deals in the first quarter were worth over USD 2,000 million with seven being minority stakes and three being acquisitions. Financial Express
April 6, 2009
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