Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) started off on a strong footing, hitting a four-year high at $30.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022. They M&As in India bucked the global trend, where deal-making fell sharply, says a report. 

Deal activity grew by 5.6 per cent in value terms in January-March 2022 compared to that in the first quarter of 2021, making it the highest first-quarter period since 2018, when it was $31.1 billion. 

In volume terms, the M&A activity grew by 29.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, making it the best-ever quarterly number, according to the M&A numbers collated by Refinitiv, an LSEG business, which is among the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure. 

M&As involving domestic companies stood at $23.7 billion, down 8.3 per cent on year. Domestic M&As declined by 24.5 per cent to $12.1 billion, and inbound M&As grew by 17.9 per cent to $ 11.6 billion, which is the highest first-quarter period since 2017. 

The US was the most active foreign acquirer, with $8.2 billion worth of deals, up by 39 per cent a year ago and accounted for 70 per cent of market share in inbound M&As. 

Outbound deals more than doubled to $5 billion, making it the highest first-quarter period since 2010. Again, the US was the most targeted nation in terms of value from domestic companies, with 21 deals worth $3.9 billion, and a 77 per cent market share.