JPMorgan M&A Chief Forecasts $150 Billion Funds Focused on India

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s global head of mergers and acquisitions, Anu Aiyengar, revealed that investors have approximately $2 trillion in available funds for investment. Of this amount $100 billion to $150 billion of that is directed towards India.

Aiyengar expressed optimism about India's investment landscape, stating that the combination of capital inflows into the Indian market and successful financial sponsor exits bodes well for increased investment in India.

“As we look at a combination of the inflows into the Indian market, as well as the exits financial sponsors have successfully been able to do, that bodes well for more money getting deployed in India,” Aiyengar said in an interview with Bloomberg Television during the JPMorgan’s India Investor Summit in Mumbai.

“It is hard to find a market like this which has the growth characteristics and stability as well as tech, health care and infra solutions that are being provided by a multitude of companies,” Aiyengar added.

Aiyengar also mentioned infrastructure and energy transition as particularly strong drivers of India M&A. “You have multiple infrastructure-only funds that are now getting set up, and the infrastructure spend in India is substantial,” she said.

India has seen $33 billion in M&A agreements so far this year, despite a 72% fall from the same period in 2022, in contrast to the global decline in dealmaking activity in 2023. JPMorgan advanced from third place in 2022 to second place globally for M&A volume this year.

Aiyengar finds encouraging indicators for asset owners' exit strategies in the current relative calmness of the IPO market. She predicts that dual-track dealmaking will become commonplace, allowing asset owners to compare valuations in the public and private markets and evaluate both IPOs and M&A deals as options for selling their holdings.