Cross-border mergers and acquisitions from India: Motives and integration strategies of Indian acquirers

Abstract

India is an important player regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&As) from emerging economy (EE) countries, both in terms of inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI). After two consecutive years of decline, the gross value of cross-border M&A deals increased in 2014 by 34%, reaching US$ 900 billion. One key characteristic was the increasing amount of M&A deals with values larger than US$ 1 billion (World Investment Report 2015). Cross-border M&As from EEs, especially from China and India, have increased dramatically during the past decade (Bhagat et al. 2011; Sun et al. 2012; Nicholson and Salaber 2013). In 2014, multinational enterprises (MNEs) from developing economies alone invested US$ 468 billion abroad, which is a 23% increase on the previous year. According to the World Investment Report (2015), for the first time MNEs from developing Asia became the world’s largest investing group. The largest home economies for FDI in developing or transition economies were, among others, China, Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Brazil, India, Chile, Indonesia, and the Russian Federation. In India the FDI outflow increased fivefold to US$ 10 billion in 2014 (World Investment Report 2015).