Harsh Batra
This week, cross-border capital tilted somewhat to India with global investors seeking this country over other APAC markets.
Further, dealmaking momentum in fintech keeps building as foreign money is accelerating bets as regulators cautiously open the door to bank-funded acquisitions to expand domestic M&A financing.
Meanwhile, policy and legal developments reshape the deal environment as India eases some restrictions on China and neighbouring-country investments, while a recent Supreme Court tax ruling on offshore structures could materially affect global acquisitions deriving ‘substantial’ value from India.
And finally, consolidation themes across sectors – from infra (plans to merge IRCON International with RVNL) to rising acquisitions among women-led tech startups.
Let’s dive in.
Deal Tracker
Our weekly roundup of confirmed M&A deals in India.
Market Trends
Long dives the India IPO
As the old world order dithers, or acquires new cosmetics, and traders are tested to their limit thanks to Trump’s infinite variety, investors are searching for places to take their long game.
In the fog of war the numbers governing oil especially, are, well, foggy. In the last week there was a steady rise in the price of crude, the very fuel that fires economies looks in short supply.
The increased global turbulence comes as Grant Thornton publishes analysis showing that 94 companies launched IPOs in the first nine months of FY26 in India, raising roughly $19 billion and maintaining the country’s position among the world’s most active public markets.
It seems even as geopolitical risk unsettles global public markets, India’s equity pipeline has continued to give results, albeit with short term/news-driven dips.
How should India’s investors discipline themselves in this time of rupture?
Busier market and fewer listings
The Grant Thornton data showed that while issuance remains strong, average listing gains have dropped sharply to about 9% in FY26, compared with roughly 29% in the previous two years, and easy money is disappearing.
Oversubscription levels that average to about 43x suggested investors were unperturbed, as if aware the markets were shifting momentum as it tested valuations.
Retail enthusiasm has cooled as investors are freaked out by the news that households may be running out of LPG, the country’s most preferred (and its cheapest, and most subsidised) cooking gas.
Meanwhile institutional investors – domestic mutual funds and insurers – as well as rich corporates and high-net-worth individuals, swoop in on large deals in this big and attractively inexpensive market. See below the ‘oversubscription’ numbers in IPOs.
Sectorally, the pipeline still reflects India’s broader growth narrative.
Financial services remains the single biggest IPO engine, followed by consumer services, capital goods, and healthcare.
E-commerce continues to generate IPO candidates with the ongoing race among platforms like Swiggy to deepen monetisation.
Meanwhile – Indian Ecom Flipkart has finally moved its base to India from SG ahead of its IPO – quite a while in the offing.
Plus, maybe large conglomerates are (still) restructuring and preparing assets for the market, a dynamic highlighted by a debate around Tata’s increasingly public internal battles over governance and capital structure.
And we cross fingers as we keep betting on India’s consumption, credit, and domestic demand maintaining the upward trajectory.
Also, there is plenty of related movement in the investment banking/executive pond, as well.
Let’s hope all the macabre global machinations end soon, especially for common Iranian folk so divided by politics.
The rumour mill
- Why GP-led secondaries will gain traction in APAC this year
- When Global M&A Meets India’s Regulatory Reality
- What’s Behind the Rush of Foreign Investment in India’s Banking and Financial Sector?
- Trump says US to get new oil refinery with Reliance backing
- Tata’s fights are going public: Why doesn’t its equity?
- Sundar Pichai Could Earn $692 Million Under New Alphabet Compensation Plan
- Reliance Consumer Products sign MoU with Finnish Food Major Fazer to produce and market premium chocolates in India
- POWERGRID board approves raising Rs 50 billion loan and divestment from CTUIL
- Nihar Info Global Board to consider subsidiary divestment on March 18
- Nazara Shares Rally 4% After Morgan Stanley Picks Up Stake Worth ₹69 Cr
- Metropolis to Deepen North India Push, Open to Acquiring Quality Labs: Promoter Ameera Shah
- Japan’s MUFG And India’s SBI Team Up For Bigger Deal Financing
- Indian digital healthcare platform Practo cuts losses by 41% in FY2025
- India’s top bank shuns Russian oil payments despite US reprieve
- India’s Data Center Sector Is Entering A Defining Decade
- How US Sub Strike Threatens India’s Economy
- Government Proposes Merger of IRCON International with RVNL
- ECB Overhaul May Unlock Global Private Credit For India’s Real Estate Development
- Drilling Tools spring 2026 slides: international push, M&A drive growth
- Downright panic: Traders tested to limits on oil’s wild monday
- Dhruva Capital Services Submits Revised Board Restructuring Disclosure to BSE
- Are CV’s the answer to GP stakes exit challenges?
- Anamudi Real Estates LLP Files Regulatory Disclosure for Godrej Properties Stake
- AIBOA says IDBI Bank land parcels should revert back to government before divestment
- ‘India can weather short West Asia shock; IPO, M&A momentum intact’ Q&A with K Balasubramanian, India CEO, Citibank
- Siguler Guff sees DPI momentum building as India assets near exit
- AIBOA Raises Concerns Over Asset Valuation and Land Ownership Ahead of IDBI Bank Divestment
M&A news
- Indian Women-Led Tech Startups: Funding Dips, Acquisitions Surge in 2025
- PwC: Global M&A volumes steady, deal values up 32% in 2025; fashion slows across all segments
- Investors turn to India as private market outpaces regional peers, McKinsey survey shows
- Investors increasingly favour India over peers in APAC
- India Is Becoming Asia-Pacific’s Favorite Private-Markets Bet
- IDBI Bank Privatization Timeline Extended to FY27 Amid Geopolitical Concerns
- How CV dealmakers are addressing LPs process pain points
Job moves
- Zenith Exports Appoints Two Independent Directors Under Regulation 30
- YES BANK Appoints Vinay Tonse as New MD & CEO; Succeeds Prashant Kumar
- Wim Plast Completes Board Transition as Mondkar’s Term Ends, Ranka Appointed
- SMX announces board changes and adopts new director compensation plan
- Senior bankers quit for rivals as Asia talent fight intensifies
- KenGen Announces Board Changes as Three Independent Directors Exit
- Indigo CEO resigns months after mass flight cancellations hurt image
- Hanumant Anaji Salunkhe quits as Ind. Director of Mitshi India Ltd
- Deccan Health Care Limited Announces Resignation of Two Independent Directors
- Cupid Limited Announces Resignation of Independent Director Ms. Smeeta Bhatkal
IPOs
Fundraising
- NIIF secures commitments of $750m for Private Markets Fund II
- Mozark raises $40m funding led by IFC, RMB Capitalworks
- Kaartech, Easebuzz in funding news
- Investcorp Announces Close of Second GP Staking Fund with $1.1 Billion in Commitments
- India Digest: Skye Air Mobility, Boba Bhai, Coreworks.AI raise funding
- India deal review: Startup funding doubles to $2.2b in Feb on Neysa’s megadeal
- IFC and technology-led agri platform Arya.ag partner to boost farmer incomes and strengthen India’s agri value chains
- Endiya co-leads $8m funding in AquaExchange and other India deals
- Apollo provides $500m financing to Adani Energy unit
- 360 ONE Asset raises $400m for fifth private credit strategy
Compliance/regulatory update
- US grants temporary waiver for India to import Russian oil
- Union Cabinet approves key changes to IBC and Companies Act 2013
- The lawsuit testing India’s corporate class-action law just survived its first major test
- RBI’s new credit playbook
- RBI revises counterparty credit risk rules to align with Basel norms
- RBI Rate Pause Faces Inflation Pressure and Rising Bond Yields
- RBI Opens the Door to Bank-funded Acquisitions: A Measured Shift, Not a Credit-Market Reset
- RBI issues Amendment Directions on Counterparty Credit Risk – Add-on factors for computation of Potential Future Exposure
- RBI dividend norms: Banks can pay up to 75% of profits as payout from FY27
- Oil surge pushes bond yields higher despite RBI Rs 1 trillion liquidity move
- Oil spike is clouding the outlook for Indian bank earnings, interest rates
- Oil shock, inflation pressures dampen RBI rate-cut hopes
- Modi sides with might in the Middle East
- Is Offshore Offshore Enough? Supreme Court Tax Decision Impacts Global M&A Which Derive Substantial Value From India
- India’s RBI steps up support for Rupee, bonds as oil swings
- India, Bangladesh urea firms shut Units as Iran war cuts LNG flow
- India weighs alternate crudes, refining costs, economic fallout as Iran conflict drags on
- India Relaxes FDI Rules for Neighboring Countries, Allowing Minority Investments via Automatic Route
