India M&A push undeterred by credit woes

By Tony Munroe and Himangshu Watts

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Armed with strong balance sheets, willing local lenders and unrelenting ambition, Indian companies are well positioned to navigate the credit crunch and maintain their global buying spree, but must be flexible on financing.

Turmoil in credit markets could even serve to open up opportunities for cash-rich Indian corporates looking globally to buy access to materials, technology, and distribution.

"Appetite continues to be there and continues to grow," Chanda Kochhar, joint managing director of ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), India's No. 2 lender, told the Reuters India Investment Summit. "The Indian corporate sector has a healthy balance sheet strength to be able to execute some of these large transactions."

Indian companies have announced $22.3 billion worth of outbound acquisitions this year, Thomson Financial data show, approaching last year's record $24 billion, which was fattened by Tata Steel's (TISC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) blockbuster $12.9 billion takeover of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus.

Indian companies looking to maintain growth trajectories fuelled by average economic expansion of 8.6 percent over the past four years are not shy about their acquisitive leanings.

"We would be looking at major acquisitions, that is no question," Atul Chandra, president of the international oil business for Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) told the Reuters Summit. The firm is ready to spend as much as $15 billion on the right target in oil, gas or petrochemicals, he added.

Other sectors seen ripe for overseas M&A from India include steel, autos and pharmaceuticals.

Hindalco Industries (HALC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which paid $6 billion this year for Canada's Novelis, said last week it is keen to buy copper mines abroad. Pharmaceuticals maker Biocon Ltd (BION.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), meanwhile, said this week it too hopes to buy overseas.

In what could be India's next signature deal, Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is vying with local foe Mahindra & Mahindra (MAHM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and private equity firm One Equity Partners to buy British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in a deal expected to be worth roughly $1.5 billion.

"I haven't seen any slowdown in the Indian market," said Colin Banfield, head of Asia Pacific M&A at Lehman Brothers. "I don't think you've seen any reduction in interest from Tata and Mahindra & Mahindra for assets such as Jaguar and Land Rover, despite what's happened in the global financing markets."

FINANCING DEALS

The credit crunch is expected to curtail buyouts globally from highly-leveraged private equity firms, with corporate buyers and sovereign wealth funds poised to take up some of the slack.

"For good deals there will always be money. We'll hopefully see less private equity players at the table. Hopefully that will bring valuations to more reasonable levels," Malvinder Singh, chief executive of Ranbaxy Laboratories (RANB.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), India's largest drug maker by sales, told the Reuters Summit.

Indian firms may be forced to finance deals differently now that global lenders have lost some of their risk appetite.

"The kind of financing you get on the target may get restricted," Manisha Girotra, who heads UBS's (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) India business -- the top Indian M&A adviser this year, according to Thomson -- told the Reuters Summit.  Continued...