India to up Fortune 500 presence

Riding high on its acquisition spree, the industry is set to double its presence on the elite list by 2010, a new study says.

Riding high on its huge overseas expansion plans and an aggressive merger and acquisition spree, India Inc is set to double its presence on the elite

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Fortune

500 list of the world's largest companies in the next four years, a new study reveals.

Given the unprecedented rate at which Indian companies are snapping up their rivals across the globe, they could be buying nearly 370 companies a year in the western countries of the US and Europe alone by the end of this decade, global consultancy major Accenture said in a report.

As a result of Corporate India's ever expanding takeover caravan on the foreign shores, there could be more domestic entrants to the Fortune Global 500 list and the number could rise to 12 by 2010, from just six currently, Accenture said.

The US-based business magazine Fortune's International Editor Robert Friedman said that getting up to 13 billion dollars in revenues (the minimum to make to the list as per this year's list) is a big step and there are not many Indian companies in striking distance.

However, a jump in the number of Indian companies on the list to double the current level is possible in six years, Friedman said while adding that he might be a bit more cautious on the forecast.

According to Accenture, Indian companies will make more than 180 acquisitions in Europe and the US in 2006, up from 130 last year.

Riding high on a booming domestic economy and availability of easy international financing, Indian companies have already made about 150 overseas acquisitions worth a total of over 16 billion dollars since the beginning of 2006, as against total 137 outbound takeover deals in entire 2005.