The year 2022 saw record business acquisitions and mergers. Sectors such as banking, cement, and airline witnessed some of the greatest deals of the year.
If the value of merging and acquisition deals in 2021 was 107 billion dollars, it elevated to 152 billion dollars in 2022. The year saw some record deals after 2018. Let us have a look at some of the milestones.
Elon Musk bought Twitter:
Musk’s purchase of Twitter for 44 billion dollars was the most dramatic of all. Musk, who was the world’s number one billionaire in early 2022, acquired the micro-blogging platform Twitter after a legal battle between the parties. Twitter accepted Musk’s deal because it was profitable for the company. However, Musk’s perspective on the company’s functioning and new strategies sparked the controversial legal battle. Eventually, following a court order, Musk acquired Twitter. However, he fired its CEO Parag Agarwal and appointed himself in that position.
Tata acquired Air India:
In 2022, the Tata Group acquired India’s nationalised air carrier Air India. Tata Sons acquired 100 per cent shares of Air India on January 27, 2022, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Talace Private Limited. This turned out to be a relief to Air India which was reeling under the effects of the Covid-19 travel ban. Tata Group later announced that it would merge Air India with Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. This is the largest M&A transaction in the Indian civil aviation field.
Adani acquired NDTV:
Billionaire Gautam Adani’s group acquired the news channel NDTV. It sparked a controversy nationally and internationally. The Adani Group bought the promoter holding company of NDTV and acquired more shares through an open offer. It currently has 34.7 per cent shares in the company. Later, NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy announced that they would transfer 27.26 per cent of their 32.26 per cent shares in the news broadcast. This would make the Adani group the controlling shareholder in NDTV with more than 64.71 per cent of shares.
PVR and INOX merged:
In 2022, two popular cinema franchisees PVR and INOX merged to create India’s largest multiplex chain with more than 1500 screens. The Covid-19 pandemic had adversely affected the cinema and theater business. The PVR-INOX merger will bring relief to aspects such as ad revenue, rent, and the convenience fee of the merged entity.
HDFC LTD-HDFC Bank merged:
In one of the largest business transactions in 2022, HDFC LTD, the largest housing finance company in India, and HDFC Bank, the largest private bank in India, merged to become a single entity. The 40 billion dollar transaction made a big new entity. However, HDFC LTD and HDFC Bank will continue
their separate services.
Adani acquired Ambuja:
Adani acquired Ambuja Cement and its subsidiary ACC Limited for 10.5 billion dollars. This acquisition has made Ambani the second largest cement manufacturer in India after Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech.
Moj and MX Takatak Merged:
Moj and MX Takatak, two popular video-sharing platforms in India, merged to become a large short video-sharing app with 300 million active monthly users. The new platform would pose competition to China’s TikTok.
Zomato acquired Blinkit:
Indian food aggregator platform Zomato has acquired quick-commerce company Blinkit for Rs 4,447 crore rupees. Zomato, which has already made its presence in the food delivery and restaurant hosting business can explore the quick-commerce sector with Blinkit.
