2021 started with positivity on several fronts. Drop in the new COVID-19 cases and rapid vaccination rollout plan at the beginning of the year ushered in greater confidence of recovery in 2021. Various economic indicators for the country landed in the positive territory during the quarter. The USD 1.9 trillion proposed fiscal stimulus in the US, if approved, could boost the US economic recovery with positive spillover effects into other global markets.
Key highlights
- Q1 2021 recorded 405 deals valued at USD 12 billion, while this represented a strong 27% increase in the deal volumes
- Deal values in the quarter dropped 17% on account of a fall in big-ticket transactions, compared with Q1 2020
- First quarter of 2021 saw two deals in the billion-dollar category and 20 deals valued at and above USD 100 million each
- Compared with Q4 2020, Q1 2021 saw a 5% marginal increase in deal volumes while values declined by 38% on back of 65% drop in the PE investment values
- In Q1 2021, M&A witnessed a strong 14% increase in the deal volumes despite values falling by 22% compared with the same period last year
- Like M&A trend, while the PE deal volumes surged by 33%, investment values dropped by 8%
- While 2021 kicked off with Total SE-Adani Green Energy deal marking Total's biggest investment in renewables to date; Wipro’s largest-ever acquisition of Capco, valued at USD 1.5 billion
- The quarter was dominated by transactions in the tech-savvy sectors like start-up, e-commerce and IT contributing to 69% of total deal volumes
