India's M&A market sees record activity in February at $7.2 billion

India witnessed a record-breaking surge in deal activity in February, with 226 M&A and private equity deals totaling $7.2 billion -- the highest monthly deal volume in the last three years, according to the Dealtracker according to a report.

As many as 85 merger and acquisition (M&A) deals worth $4.8 billion were announced in February.

Domestic deals constituted 68 per cent of M&A volumes and 78 per cent of total values. Outbound deals surged, while inbound deal values declined sharply.

Significant deals in February included ONGC-NTPC Green's $2.3 billion acquisition of Ayana Renewable Power.

The Praana Group's $755 million acquisition of Owens Corning's glass reinforcement business accounted for 89 per cent of the manufacturing sector's total value.

Media and entertainment segment saw a sharp uptick in sports and gaming deals, including Torrent Group's $872 million acquisition of Irelia Sports (Gujarat Titans).

Total 141 transactions worth $2.4 billion made up for the private equity (PE) deals, it said, adding this was the highest PE volume since May 2022, with continued month-on-month growth since November 2024.

Early-stage investments (Seed to Series A) dominated, forming nearly 50 per cent of total PE volumes.

Key PE transactions included Cube Highways' $487 million investment in two road projects (Quazigund Expressway & Athaang Jammu Udhampur Highway), and Multiples Alternate Asset Management's $200 million investment in Qburst Technologies (IT & ITES).

The cross-border activity was mixed, with outbound deals witnessing a significant increase both in terms of volumes and values, while inbound deal values declined significantly.

Retail and consumer, IT & ITES, banking and financial services, and pharma, healthcare and biotech sectors were the key drivers for volume growth, contributing 60 per cent of the overall volumes, while traditional sectors, including energy and natural resources, media and entertainment, manufacturing and infrastructure management led value growth, accounting for 66 per cent of the total values.