Mumbai, January 22, 2004: DSP Merrill Lynch Limited has topped the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) 2003 league tables in an annual INDATA survey of Corporate Finance deals in India, conducted by India Advisory Partners (IAP), an independent advisory group providing corporate finance advice on Indian deals to international companies.

DSP Merrill Lynch topped the League Tables in terms of highest number of deals at 16 valued at Rs 2,918.8 crore ($648 million) followed by ICICI Securities with 14 deals valued at Rs 2,458.5 crore ($546 million) and J M Morgan Stanley with 10 deals valued at Rs 1,647 crore ($366 million).

Mr Rajeev Gupta, co- head of Investment Banking and M&A, DSP Merrill Lynch limited, said: "DSP Merrill Lynch's Top ranking by India Advisory Partners underlines the strength of our firm's franchise and is a recognition of the value that we bring to our clients. 2003 has been significant in terms of complexity and nature of deals which indicates a structural deepening of the M&A landscape, despite the fact that deal size has reduced."

India Advisory Partners states that : "The dominance of accountants in the first half of 2003 ended, as DSP Merrill Lynch emerged as India's best performing Investment Bank in 2003. DSP Merrill Lynch helped Newbridge Capital invest in Matrix Laboratories and the Tata Group to sell its stake in Tata Infomedia and has benefited from a stable and long serving M&A team."

"DSP Merrill Lynch is expected to rank highly in 2004," India Advisory Partners said adding: "2004 is likely to prove a good year for Investment Bankers as the cement, telecom and banking sectors consolidate further and Indian companies continue investing overseas.

The added interest India holds for Private Equity investors should round off a very interesting and rewarding 2004, IAP said.

The second half of 2003 saw 305 announced deals compared to 269 in the first half with a total deal value of Rs 118 bn (USD 2.6 bn) compared to Rs 95 bn (USD 2.1 bn) in the first half. The total announced deal value of Rs 213 bn (USD 4.7 bn) in 2003 is lower than the Rs 392 bn (USD 8.7bn) of 2002, however 2002 was a year of few large deals; 15 deals over Rs 5 bn (USD 111mn) were announced in 2002 compared to merely 4 such deals in 2003.

DSP Merrill Lynch Limited (DSPML) - One of the leading investment banking and securities companies in India, DSPML is a joint venture with Merrill Lynch & Co., the leading international capital raising, financial management and advisory company. Merrill Lynch has 40% equity ownership in DSPML. DSP Merrill Lynch has been ranked by several highly respected international publications including Asiamoney, Institutional Investor & The Asset magazine.

India Advisory Partners

League Table 2003

League table includes deals with Indian targets only.
Source: INDATA India Advisory Partners