India remains popular for merger deals: KPMG

New York, Oct 6: According to a new study, Central and East European countries emerged favourites for cross-border mergers in the first half of 2009, but India along with China, Russia and Brazil remained popular for overseas merger deals.

The study by global consultancy KPMG said that in the first half of 2009, US companies made the majority of their high-growth market acquisitions in China with 17 deals, Brazil with 13 and India with 12.

The top acquirer of companies in developed economies was India (39 deals), followed by the Middle East with 25, China (21), Central and East Europe (13), and Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with 13, the study said.

Arun Kumar, principal-in-charge of KPMG's US-India practice said, "India provides a perfect example of why it would be wrong to write off emerging markets' cross-border aspirations at this stage."

He also said, "While cross-border deals are down, India's economy is still growing, there is post-election optimism, banks remain liquid, and finance is available for the right deal."

OneIndia News