Mergers and Operating Performance - Indian Experience

The pace for mergers and acquisitions activity in India picked up in response to various economic reforms introduced by the Government of India since 1991, for economic liberalization and globalization. The Indian economy has undergone a major structural change following the economic reforms. Size and competence have become the focus of every business enterprise in India, and many industries in India have experienced consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, in the expectation that synergistic gains can result from economies of scale in production and capital, product and marketing scope expansion, and increased market power. The present research study was intended to analyse impact of mergers on operating performance for merging firms in Indian industry in the post-reforms period, i.e. from 1991-2003. The focus was to analyse how mergers have affected the operating performance of firms, by considering multiple perspectives like type of mergers, industry type, time-period of occurrence, and relative sizes of merging and merged firms.