Dealmaking activity witnessed a huge decline in January, with only 145 transactions worth $2.7 billion being undertaken by India Inc, a report said on Monday.

In value, the overall flows suffered due to the absence of any big-ticket deal and were 56 per cent down compared with $6.12 billion in the year-ago period, and 62 per cent down compared with the previous month, a report by consultancy firm Grant Thornton said.

The volumes were down 41 per cent when compared with 244 deals in January 2022, while the same were down by 3 per cent compared with the preceding month.

“India managed to account for record deal values last year (2022), which made investors hopeful about the future. However, the deal momentum in January 2023 did not match the expectation and witnessed a declining trend,” its partner Shanthi Vijetha said.

The mergers and acquisition deal volumes declined by 62 per cent at 26 deals worth $311 million, an 88 per cent decrease compared with January 2022. The M&A segment continued to be dominated by domestic deals, it said, adding that at $270 million, the monthly value was lowest since May 2022.

Private equity investments recorded 119 deals valued over $2.4 billion, it said, adding that while both volumes and values declined compared with January 2022, there was a 28 per cent increase in deal volumes and a 30 per cent increase in deal values when compared with December 2022.