The Globalisation of Indian Business ― Cross Border Mergers and Acquisitions in Indian Manufacturing

There are a good number of studies in the Indian context, which have examined the general trends in post-merger performance. However, this is the first book to attempt an analysis of the aforementioned issues, (that is, impact on technological performance, production efficiency and market competition), in detail, using appropriate statistical and econometric techniques. 

The book takes a comparative perspective, involving domestic and cross-border deals. The author analyses the changing nature of foreign investment in the form of mergers and acquisitions vis-à-vis domestic deals, using a new database on mergers and acquisitions. More specifically, she provides an insight into whether the consolidation strategy adopted by firms has helped them to achieve their desired objectives in terms of improvement in technology, enhancement of efficiency and market power in the context of increasing mergers and acquisitions in India, especially since the 1990s.

The book is of importance within the context of Competition Law, which aims to maintain competition and protect consumers’ interests without harming that of the producers’. It analyses the role of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in changing the level of concentration and its policy implications and while it cautions the regulators to rethink the efficiency defense argument and become more vigilant on monopolies creation, it also suggests that firms should reconsider their post-merger integration strategy, since consolidation has not led to a sustainable increase in market shares of the surviving firms.

Beena Saraswathy is Assistant Professor at the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), New Delhi. She has completed MPhil in Applied Economics and Doctoral Degree in Economics from Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi). Before joining ISID, she had been working with Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India (GOI). Her research interests include market competition, mergers and acquisitions, the pharmaceutical industry, business groups in India and contemporary development issues.