M&A Movements: An Analysis of Patterns of Indian Trends

Abstract

Indian industrial landscape had been completely redrawn by the forces of globalization, deregulation and unprecedented technological advancements for the last three decades. Corporate enterprises have responded to the competitive pressures unleashed by these forces through extensive repositioning activities involving corporate restructuring in general and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in particular. This article has carried out a survey of Indian M&As for different industry groups by creating a database of 1990–2011 to find the presence of M&As waves in India. Empirical construct revealed the trends of Indian M&As for 24 industry groups and identified three distinct waves of M&As. The survey of Indian M&As has revealed that there was a significant reduction of Indian M&As in international deals than domestic deals during the economic recession period (2008–2009). Using VAR and VECM model, it emerged that M&As waves for different sectors of Indian industry move in the same cyclical pattern. Their behaviour, apparently independent corporate decisions, are most likely affected by the conditions of the economy, which may be changed by various macroeconomic factors which are in line with the findings of several other studies. This study contributes towards finding the answer to this question by establishing the underlying common factors that cause the cyclical behaviour in all the M&A waves. This article also establishes the basic interdependence and co-movements between the waves, and how this interdependence changed over time.