M&A volume of $17.8 billion is the second highest year-to-date volume on record after 2007, deal tracking firm Dealogic said in its report.

Corporate India had announced M&A deals worth $18.4 billion in the same period last year, it added.

Deal size up

The average deal size also witnessed a jump of 6 per cent. “The average deal size was $174 million till date in 2008, while for the full year of 2007, it stood at $164 million,” Dealogic analyst Kaushik Punjabi said.

“The acquisition of Imperial Energy Corp by ONGC Videsh for $2.6 billion was the largest Indian outbound deal this year and the third largest Indian outbound deal on record,” Mr Punjabi added.

A sectoral analysis of cross border deals shows that oil and gas was the most targeted industry by the Indian acquires on cross border deal segment so far this year as it accounted for deals worth $3.2 billion.

Targeted space

Metal and steel followed suit with 2.6 billion dollars and auto and truck was the third most targeted space. The UK was the most targeted nation by India Inc in 2008 year-to-date, accounting deals worth $6 billion.
While, the US was the second most targeted nation ($4.9 billion), followed by Spain ($1.4 billion).

RBS was the leading Indian M&A outbound advisory in volume ranking till date with $6.7 billion. Citi was at the second spot with $4.3 billion followed by Lehman Brothers with $3.7 billion, Dealogic reportsaid.

The top two outbound deals in 2008 till date are — ONGC Videsh’s acquisition of Imperial Energy for $2.6 billion and LSE-listed Vedanta Resources’ $2.6-billion buyout of US-based Asarco Inc.