INDIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Kunal Chandra, Kabeer Mathur, Chinmay Bilgi, Sharnam Vaswani and Rajdeep Mukherjee, Trilegal
quarterly deal momentum peaking in Q3 2025 with 42 transactions valued at USD2.9 billion. The energy sector saw 83 transactions in 2025 with an aggregate deal value of approximately USD7 billion. The predict - ability of contracted cash flows made infrastructure and energy assets compelling for long-term invest - ments in 2025. Technology Transactions: Acquiring Intelligence Technology M&A activity in India strengthened sig - nificantly in 2025, with aggregate deal values esti - mated at approximately USD27.5 billion, representing an increase of roughly 30% over the USD20 billion recorded in 2024 and marking the highest level of transaction value in the sector in the past three years. Though large in number, a majority of these transac - tions were mid-sized and capability-driven, with buy - ers targeting specialised companies in AI, enterprise software and cloud infrastructure to integrate into existing operations. Deal activity in the AI segment accelerated consider - ably as businesses across sectors sought to embed AI-driven tools into core processes, including data analytics, automation and customer engagement, with acquirers targeting niche AI firms rather than develop - ing these capabilities organically. At a transaction level, the rise of AI has also begun influencing deal structuring and due diligence. In sev - eral transactions involving technology businesses, buyers have sought representations and warranties that core software or proprietary code has not been developed using generative AI tools or, where such tools have been used, that appropriate safeguards and licensing compliance have been maintained. This practice reflects legitimate and growing concerns around intellectual property ownership, data prove - nance and potential infringement risks. Acquirers are therefore seeking contractual comfort that software assets forming the basis of the target’s business are capable of being owned, licensed and commercially exploited without exposure to third-party claims. Scaling India’s Digital Backbone: Data Centres and GCCs 2025 witnessed significant investment in India’s digital infrastructure, particularly in the development of data
centres and the expansion of GCCs – though their cur - rent M&A profiles differ significantly. Data centres have already resulted in tangible transaction flow owing to the rapid growth of cloud computing, AI, digital pay - ments and e-commerce and a consequent surge in demand for data storage and processing capacity. In response, both global technology companies and infrastructure investors have increased capital deploy - ment into large-scale data centre platforms across key metropolitan clusters such as Mumbai, Chen - nai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. These investments have typically been structured as platform acquisi - tions, joint ventures or strategic partnerships with real estate developers and energy providers, reflecting the capital-intensive and infrastructure-oriented nature of the sector. In comparison, GCCs are at an earlier stage of their M&A evolution. Multinational corporations have con - tinued to expand their India GCC presence, with GCCs evolving from back-office support into strate - gic hubs for technology development, data analyt - ics and research. Policymakers have supported this momentum through the Union Budget 2025–26 and state-level incentive frameworks. The significance of this policy push lies in its potential to generate new categories of transactions: large-scale GCC platform acquisitions, carve-outs of captive technology units and capability-led deals targeting specialist teams. W&I Insurance: The Reallocation of Risk W&I insurance is gaining meaningful traction in the Indian M&A market, as a tool for risk allocation and facilitation of cleaner exits for sellers. This has reduced reliance on escrows and long-tail seller recourse. Increased sophistication in due diligence and disclo - sures has also allowed insurers to provide W&I poli - cies with broader coverage, more flexible terms and lower rates, making their products progressively more accessible to mid-market transactions. Data on W&I claims, however, reinforces the lesson that insurance is not a substitute for disciplined exe - cution. Reported claims in India have frequently arisen from audits, financial statement issues and compli - ance-related breaches, underlining that W&I insurance does not eliminate risk but only reallocates it. Careful
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