M&A deal value drops 34% to USD 1.24 bn in February

The value of merger and acquisition deals in February slumped 34 per cent to USD 1.24 billion compared to the year-ago period, according to a report. Leading consultancy Grant Thornton's report showed that number of M&A transactions last month rose marginally to 44 last month whereas the same was at 40 in February 2018.

In February last year, the total value of M&A transactions had touched USD 1.9 billion.

"While February 2019 recorded same number of deals valued and estimated at over USD 100 million as witnessed in February 2018, the high valued deals totalled to only USD 0.9 billion compared to USD 1.5 billion in February 2018," it said.

Pankaj Chopda, Director, Grant Thornton India LLP, said the shortening of the run-up period to the national elections will only deepen the wait and watch approach in the deal environment in the short term and much is expected post the results of the general elections.

Regarding last month, he noted that M&A transactions were dominated by cross-border transactions as against a mix of cross-border and merger transactions in the same period a year ago.

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"The month of February recorded the highest volumes in seven months, demonstrating the strong urge to expand outside local territory surpassing global headwinds," he added.