India saw a 38% increase in M&A activity growing from $79 billion in the previous year to $109 billion in FY24, reflecting strong investor confidence . Also after a brief slowdown last year, Indian conglomerates are once again driving significant activity across sectors, focusing on diversification and strategic expansion, with their deal contribution almost doubling in CY24 to $48 billion from $26 billion in the previous year, said V Jayasankar, managing director. Kotak Investment Bank.

The bank also said that CY24 saw the highest-ever fundraising in India’s capital markets at $74 billion and the momentum is expected to continue with an IPO pipeline of $35 billion of dollars this year. Companies continue to look to IPOs as a source of capex funding with 40% of primary funds coming from IPOs. According to the investment bank, fundraising activity in India has been remarkably broad and spans all sectors, unlike global capital markets such as the US, which are often dominated by a few key industries such as technology , health or financial services.

He also highlighted how the domestic equity fund is providing stability to the volatility of FII flows. According to the bank’s report, domestic investors contributed a total of $62 billion, of which 50% came from SIPs, compared to $0.4 billion from FIIs in CY24. Also demat accounts increased to 18 million by October 2024, mainly from non-traditional states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc. cover companies IPOs in 2024 gave a strong return of 32.8% on average.

Another trend the bank noticed was multinationals preferring India as a listing destination, listing their Indian subsidiaries or shifting their corporate office to India or consolidating their global business under an Indian entity to incorporate – there of sales declines in CY24. Hyundai’s success led several multinational conglomerates to consider unlocking value through IPOs in India. Therefore, MNCs are increasingly looking at the Indian public markets as a viable monetization avenue.

Hyundai Motor India’s $3.3 billion IPO was India’s largest IPO till date. Hyundai shares made their debut on Indian bourses in October last year, with shares trading at 1,931 rupees on the BSE, a 1.5 percent discount to the issue price of 1,960 rupees per share . Hyundai shares are currently trading at Rs 1,787 on the BSE.