Global M&A deal tally for Jan-Mar quarter at $597 billion

New Delhi: Global merger and acquisition deal tally amounted to USD 597.4 billion in the January-March period of this year, down 24 percent from the corresponding period last year, says a report.

According to global deal tracking firm Mergermarket, after a record year for M&A in 2015, there has been a cooling down period in January-March, which witnessed the lowest first quarter value in two years.

"Global M&A is re-balancing towards a sustainable level with quarter one (January-March) 2016 amounting to USD 597.4 billion," the report said.

Interestingly, the previous three quarters had all witnessed more than USD 1 trillion deal value.

"The mega-deal frenzy that started in 2014 is winding down as companies look towards less sizeable deals," Mergermarket said adding a substantial difference this year is the decreasing M&A value in the US (USD 241.2 billion) and Asia-Pacific (USD 132 billion), both down more than 30 percent after witnessing a record breaking tally during 2015.

On India, the report said India-based companies have become more confident in making outbound M&A this year.

"With 23 deals worth USD 2.2 billion announced, first quarter (January-March) 2016 reached its

highest first quarter deal value since 2011, a 455.1 percent value increase compared to January-March 2015 (USD 390 million, 19 deals)," it said.

The largest outbound acquisition of the quarter was Indian Oil Corporation, Oil India and Bharat Petroleum's USD 1.3 billion acquisition of 29.9 percent stake in a Russia-based oil field owned by Rosneft.

In line with the global trend, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) has experienced a dip in M&A activity, where 700 deals worth USD 131.8 billion targeting the region represented 34.2 percent declined by value compared to first quarter of 2015.

The dip follows a lull in Chinese domestic activity with 271 deals worth USD 69.9 billion, down 64.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2015 (509 deals, USD 195.4 billion) the report added.