According to the latest Grant Thornton Bharat Dealtracker report, August 2023 saw the business landscape record a total of 97 deals, valued at $6.6 billion, a 60 per cent increase in deal values and witnessed a 27 per cent decline in deal volumes compared to August 2022.

This surge represents a 110 per cent uptick from July 2023, signalling a significant resurgence in high-value transactions. The driving force behind this growth in deal values was the presence of two billion-dollar transactions and an additional eleven deals valued at over $100 million each. In contrast, July 2023 managed only nine high-value deals without any billion-dollar deals.

Shanthi Vijetha, partner, Growth, Grant Thornton Bharat said, "August has undeniably marked a significant turning point in the global business landscape, witnessing a notable upsurge in cross-border transactions. Start-ups, e-commerce, and the IT sector have been driving deal volumes, while the e-commerce sector has led in deal values, closely followed by retail and pharma sectors.”

M&A Landscape: August 2023 saw 12 deals amounting to $2.1 billion. The inbound sector played a pivotal role in this shift, with Walmart's acquisition of a 4 per cent stake in Flipkart for $1.4 billion. This deal alone accounted for 66 per cent of the month's cross-border values. The IT/Tes banking and financial services sector drove the volumes, recording four deals each, with values amounting to $625 million and $379 million, respectively.

Private Equity (PE) landscape: PE activity witnessed a 35 per cent decline in volumes, from 110 deals last year to just 72 this year, amounting to $2.9 billion. However, compared to July 2023, volumes experienced a 9 per cent uptick, whereas values saw a significant 2.7-fold surge.

The average transaction size surged from $17 million in July 2023 to $40 million in August 2023. The start-up sector dominated in terms of volumes, with 44 deals valued at $336 million, driven by the retail segment. Qatar Investment Authority’s one-billion-dollar investment in Reliance Retail Ventures for a 0.99 per cent stake alone contributed to 35 per cent of the month's PE values. August also saw the emergence of the second unicorn of 2023, Zepto, which raised $200 million.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) sector witnessed heightened activity, with six IPOs raising $567 million. Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) activity, with four transactions, amassed a total value of $1.2 billion, marking a 74 per cent increase compared to July 2023, attributed to Union Bank of India's QIP placement worth $610 million.

Year-to-Date (YTD) 2023 has seen a significant drop of 41 per cent in the number of deals compared to the same period in 2022. Further, the total value of these deals has suffered a substantial decline of 70 per cent, reaching a total of $32.8 billion in 2023. PE experienced a 31 per cent decrease in deal values, while the values in the M&A sector plummeted by a staggering 85 per cent.