In an insightful ION Influencers fireside chat, Gaurav Asthana, Founding Partner of Transjovan Capital, talked about cross border M&A opportunities. With over 14 years of experience and a footprint across New York, Paris, Sydney, and New Delhi, Asthana decoded the strategies for identifying and executing cross-border opportunities, with a particular focus on India’s dynamic market.

Key Topics Discussed & Strategic Insights

1. The Genesis of a Niche: Buy-Side M&A Specialization

Asthana founded Transjovan Capital in 2011 to fill a critical gap: the lack of specialized buy-side M&A advisors. While traditional investment banks focused on sell-side mandates (auctions), Asthana identified a need for corporations—from Fortune 500 giants to mid-market firms—seeking proprietary, bilateral deal flow and external corporate development support.

2. The Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side DNA: A Fundamental Shift

Asthana emphasized that successful buy-side advisory requires a completely different mindset from traditional investment banking.

• Sell-Side KPI: Closing the transaction.

• Buy-Side KPI: Ensuring the deal is long-term value-accretive, with a focus on successful post-merger integration (PMI). The integrity to walk away from overpriced or poor-fit deals is paramount. This long-term partnership approach (often via retained annual contracts) is Transjovan’s core moat.

3. The Inbound India Playbook: Why Global Giants Need Local Guides

For global corporations like Legrand, Hitachi, Caterpillar, and Cummins, Transjovan acts as an extended corporate development arm.

• Proprietary Sourcing: They develop “wish list” targets that are often not on the block, creating opportunities rather than just participating in auctions.

• Expedited Time-to-Market: For first-time entrants to India, building greenfield can be slow. Acquiring a brownfield asset with local expertise accelerates market capture in a fast-growing economy.

• Navigating the “India Premium”: Asthana confirmed that acquisition multiples in high-growth Indian sectors can be ~50% higher than in Western markets. This premium is justified by growth rates often double India’s GDP (~14-15% sector growth), offering a compelling growth narrative for global shareholders.

4. The Rising Tide of Outbound Indian M&A

While inbound deals currently make up 60-70% of Transjovan’s work, outbound activity by Indian acquirers is growing (~30-40%). Key drivers include:

• Capability & Tech Acquisition: Especially in high-tech and IT/ITeS sectors.

• Moving Closer to the Customer: For service sectors like healthcare analytics.

• Value & Distressed Deals: Particularly in industrial sectors like auto components in Continental Europe, where assets are available at attractive, single-digit EBITDA multiples.

5. Geographic Hotspots: The Global Chessboard

Asthana’s pipeline reveals clear trends for the next five years:

• Indian Outbound Acquisitions Target:

  1. Continental Europe: For manufacturing footprint and value deals.

  2. The US: For IT/ITeS onshoring and navigating tariff landscapes.

  3. Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa: For consumer-facing businesses replicating Indian playbooks in similar demographic markets.

• Inbound Investment into India Is Strongest From: Europe, the US, Japan, and Southeast Asia, focusing on electronics manufacturing, specialty chemicals, building materials, and consumer sectors.

6. Risk Factors & The PMI Challenge

For global investors, the primary concerns regarding India are political stability and regulatory predictability. Geopolitical shifts, like Indo-China relations, can impact FDI sentiment.

For Indian companies acquiring overseas, Post-Merger Integration (PMI) is critical. The focus is on realizing cost synergies by shifting operations to a lower-cost Indian base, often managed by a PMO from Indian HQ while incentivizing local management with ESOPs.

 
Key timestamps:

00:07 Introduction to ION Influencers Fireside Chats
00:48 Founding Transjovan Capital
02:11 Exploring Cross Border Opportunities
03:59 Understanding Market Know-How
04:39 Differentiating from Traditional Investment Banking
09:20 Assessing Risk Appetite in Corporate Development
13:01 Transitioning from Inbound to Outbound Acquisitions
14:50 Challenges of Acquiring in the Indian Market
17:31 Inbound vs Outbound Acquisition Dynamics
18:28 Motivations for Outbound Acquisitions
20:22 Post Merger Integration Strategies
21:43 Future Acquisition Trends for Indian Companies
24:02 Potential Threats to Foreign Investment in India
25:32 Conclusion and Closing Remarks