NITIE, Mumbai | Samiksha 2006

Samiksha 2006 Panel Discussion Series Held at NITIE, Mumbai
'Indian Companies on a Global Acquisition Spree'

'Samiksha', the panel discussion series was held on 11 February 2006 at NITIE. The discussion series is mainly aimed at providing an arena for student-corporate interaction. This time Samiksha saw active participation from students from across B-schools.

The panel for the discussion constituted of - Mr. Abhinav Sinha (Principal, Boston Consulting Group), Mr.Aravind Mahajan (Partner, IBM Consulting), Mr. Arun Patankar (Principal Advisor, CII), Mr. Yezdi Nagaporewalla (Director - Industrial Markets, KPMG), Mr. H. Rajaram (VP Finance, Bluestar). The moderator for the discussion was Mr. Biren Bhuta (Sr. Correspondent, NDTV).

The topic 'India Inc. Going Global' had some heated discussion. The proceedings started off with a ten-minute presentation by the panelists on the topic. The presentations highlighted the fact that Indian companies in the growth phase needed some boost to grow to the next level, and this boost can be provided by inorganic expansion in the global arena. The presentations were followed by panel discussion and an audience question and answer round.

Mr. Arvind Mahajan, in his opening presentation, stated that "Growth is back on the Indian CEO's agenda, after years of cost cutting and restructuring". He mentioned the recent trend towards setting up base in US and Europe by the major business houses. He cited the example that in the last year there were as many as 119 mergers & acquisitions, though the total deal value was only around 3 billion USD.

Mr. Yezdi Nagaporewalla was of the view that "timing played an important role in mergers and acquisitions. An ill-timed merger may go wrong even though there may be synergies in the two companies". He showed cautious optimism by stating that India contributes just 1% to the global M&A's. "In the years ahead with a strengthening industry, it is bound to increase," he stated.

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Contributed by -
Harsha Venkatesh,
Media Coordinator,
Management Class of 2007,
NITIE, Mumbai.