Introduction
In 2020, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to India reached US$57 billion, a 13-percent rise from 2019.
[1] The allure of India’s massive consumer market and expanding middle class, which is estimated to reach 583 million people by 2025,
[2] remains a key pull for investors. As corporate revenues and profits fell owing to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, company valuations declined, providing a boon for those on the lookout for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Foreign investors betting on India’s future set their sights on the country’s consumer brands, e-commerce and infrastructure companies, primarily through M&As. This was a quicker and arguably safer way to enter the market. As a result, cross-border M&As increased by 83 percent in India in 2020, rising to US$27 billion. The most notable was Facebook’s 10-percent acquisition in Jio Platforms, for a hefty US$5.7 billion.