In 2007 and early 2008, India Inc. inked a plethora of big-ticket Merger and Acquisition (M&A) deals overseas. That was a time when the new-found confidence of India Inc. had propelled it to sail its boats across the foreign waters and leave its indelible marks on the global M&A map. Big corporate guns such as the Tatas, the Birlas and the United Spirits had ventured into large-sized foreign deal making. But in more recent months, the Indian share of outgoing M&A deals has somewhat dried down, thanks to the global financial crisis, liquidity crunch and the lows in the stock markets across the globe.

With the crash in the market, the overall M&A activities have waned. The value of all the deals together—inbound as well as outbound—in 2008 has declined for the first time in recent years. According to an estimate by Thompson Reuters, till December 19, 2008, M&A volumes were down by 22.2% to $52.12 bn from that of the previous year. Both the acquisition by overseas companies in India and Indian forays overseas have declined with the outbound M&A activity dropping by 32.6% to $14.9 bn in 2008.

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