New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS): India saw 95 deals amounting to $3.1 billion in the month of July, a 58 per cent increase in value terms (year-on-year), a report showed on Friday.

July saw deal volumes up by 46 per cent (YoY) compared to the same period in 2022, according to the report by Grant Thornton Bharat.

The catalyst for this growth was the emergence of nine big-ticket transactions valued over $100 million, aggregating an impressive $2.1 billion.

“While the cross-border transactions propelled the surge in total deal values, carefulness in private equity investment caused a reduction in overall volumes,” said Shanthi Vijetha, Partner, Growth, Grant Thornton Bharat.

However, India's attractiveness as a destination for deal-making and investments is expected to persist and H2 2023 to witness improvement in deal activity, despite the global macroeconomic conditions, she mentioned.

The merger and acquisition (M&A) sector displayed a nuanced trend, experiencing a 17 per cent decrease in deal volumes but a staggering 7 times increase in values in contrast to July 2022.

This surge is anchored by 29 deals valued at $2 billion, where six high-value transactions encompassing traditional sectors like IT, auto, retail, and manufacturing took centre stage.

M&A values were driven by Proximus Opal's 58 per cent controlling stake acquisition in Route Mobile for $721 million.

The private equity (PE) investments experienced a modest decline with 66 deals, at $1.1 billion, marking the second lowest monthly volumes and values since August 2020.

The startup sector dominated the deal activity, accounting for 44 per cent of total PE volumes, the report said.

Notably, the month continued to observe a significant presence of B2B start-ups, which accounted for more than 52 per cent.

The month witnessed a triumphant stride in the capital markets, with three IPOs collectively raising $187 million across the IT, retail, and banking sectors.

This is in stark contrast to the stagnant IPO landscape of July 2022.