Shaw Wallace In His Bag

Twenty years after his group first bid for it, UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya scooped up the Chhabria family-owned Shaw Wallace for Rs 1,300 crore. The deal catapulted Mallya to the #2 position in the global spirits stack-up, with annual sales of about 60 million cases (Diageo leads with 91 million cases), domestic market share of 60 per cent and access to whisky brands such as Royal Challenge and Director's Special.

-Mahesh Nayak

Firing On All Cylinders

Ratan Tata's Tata group was on an M&A overdrive last year, with six group companies in industries ranging from steel to software to hospitality to auto, making eight overseas acquisitions. Tata Steel snagged a 40 per cent stake in Thailand's Millennium Steel, TCS acquired Chile's Comicrom, Tata Motors purchased Hispano Carrocera, and Indian Hotels snapped up New York's landmark hotel, the Pierre, and the W in Sydney.

-MN

The Big Picture

From Rs 7,500 crore to Rs 17,500 crore a year. And all that it took Videocon Group's Venugopal Dhoot was just 10 days and two key acquisitions. On June 28, Dhoot bought Thomson SA's colour picture tube business in China, Poland and Mexico, and on July 7, acquired AB Electrolux's India operations (Electrolux Kelvinator). An Indian Samsung in the making?

-Anand Adhikari

The Rise Of The Steel Czar

All hail Lakshmi Niwas Mittal. The steel trader from Kolkata emerged as the world's #1 steel producer last year by gobbling up Wilbur Ross' ISG for a record $17.8 billion. Mittal Steel now boasts of $31.5 billion in revenues, 70 million tonnes of steel capacity and presence in more than a dozen countries. The deal also made Mittal, 55, not just the richest Indian but the third richest in the world with a networth of $25 billion.

-AA

Driving Across The Globe

Those who thought Mahindra & Mahindra's Anand Mahindra, 50, would stop to catch his breath after acquiring the tractor business of China's Jiangling Motor Company late 2004, were dead wrong. Last year, he signed a JV with Renault to launch its sedan Logan, followed by another such deal with the us-based International Truck & Engine Corp. to make trucks and buses. Plus, Mahindra bought an 88 per cent stake in Plexion Technologies (India), a computer-aided engineering services firm.

-AA

Ringing In Change

Finally, last year, Kumar Mangalam Birla gained control of Idea Cellular by purchasing another 17 per cent for $150 million, raising the Aditya Birla group's stake to 50.15 per cent. That should put Idea, which has 6.21 million subscribers, on a stronger footing-provided Birla and the Tatas, who own about 49 per cent, pump in more money.

-MN

A Man Of His Own

Following a bitter split with his elder brother Mukesh, Anil Ambani seemed to be in a hurry to expand his telecom-power-financial services empire. In July, the 46-year-old bought Manmohan Shetty's Adlabs Films for more than Rs 350 crore, marking his foray into Bollywood. Subsequently, he acquired amp Sanmar Life Insurance for an undisclosed amount, besides a mid-sized Spanco Telesystem. Now, the Rajya Sabha MP is said to be the frontrunner for UTI Securities.

-AA

West Side View

He may be billed as the future Chairman of the Tata Group, but for now Noel Tata is busy expanding his retail empire. Last year, he paid Rs 103.60 crore to acquire Chennai-based, privately-owned books and music retailer, Landmark. Son of Naval and Simone Tata, Noel is also said to be on the look out for a food retail chain, among others.

-Anand Adhikari

Riding On Dunlop

He beat a clutch of bigger rivals to walk away with Dunlop Tyres, besides Falcon and India Rubber Tyres. But the Kolkata-based Pawan Kumar Ruia now has to prove that he can turn around the ailing Dunlop, for which he paid Rs 200 crore and may need a matching sum for modernisation. Some, however, expect Dunlop to be Ruia's nemesis.

-MN

Banking on M&A

"Go global" was the mantra at India's biggest bank, the State Bank of India, and driving it was Chairman Arun Kumar Purwar. Early last year, SBI acquired a 51 per cent stake in Mauritius-based Indian Ocean International Bank for $8 million, followed by Kenya's Giro Commercial Bank, where SBI picked up 76 per cent for $7 million. Modest deals to be sure, but significant for what they reveal about SBI's new mindset.

-AA

Forging Ahead

Between June and December, Bharat Forge's Baba Kalyani struck three big deals. The first two were for acquisition of Federal Forging of us (for an estimated Rs 39.58 crore) and Imatra Forging Group (Rs 240 crore). The third was for a joint venture with China's FAW Corporation, gaining access to key vehicle manufacturers in the country.

-Mahesh Nayak

The Trojan Deal

Better late than never. That's what UK's Vodafone seemed to be telling itself when it struck a deal with Sunil Bharti Mittal and private equity investor Warburg Pincus in October for a 10 per cent stake in Bharti Tele-Ventures for $1.5 billion. The biggest single investment in the Indian telecom sector, the deal cut Mittal's stake to 45.9 per cent, but fetched him a cool $500 million.

-MN