What make mergers and acquisitions stand apart in India, Klass Oskam tells us

Monday June 29, 2015 , 2 min Read

The world of negotiating mergers and acquisitions is known to be a hard and ruthless place globally. But is there anything uniquely Indian about it? Klass Oskam, Managing Director of Signal Hill India, certainly thinks that the bazaar bargaining culture of give and take sets apart Indian M&A negotiations apart from our country’s famed warmth and hospitality.

Klass, who has over 18 years of middle market investment banking experience, has spent close to a decade in India dealing with technology M&A and private placements. Prior to joining Signal Hill in 2012 to begin Signal Hill India’s operations, Klass was a Director in the Investment Banking team of Ernst & Young India, responsible for Technology M&A in the South of India. Before moving to India in February of 2005, Klass worked for eight years in Europe, primarily with Arthur Andersen / Deloitte in Technology M&A. He began his career at NIB Capital, a mid-sized European wholesale and investment bank in the Netherlands. He holds a MSc in Economics / Finance from Groningen University.

He has also personally led and closed over 25 transactions across Enterprise Software, IT Services, Internet & Digital Media and Education Technology with a combined equity value of in excess of $1B.

Also read: Throwing light on Tech M&A in India – Klaas Oskam

In this candid chat, he takes us through his personal journey and shares his views on how the Indian M&A space is emerging as the ecosystem itself is growing. Klass came to India with a three-four year outlook but has stayed on for almost a decade now.

He throws light on the M&A deal sizes and why the valuations are smaller as compared to USA and Israel. He also gives a few tips on what a global company looks at while acquiring an Indian technology startup. Overall, he has a positive outlook for the market in the coming years and talks about some of the things that are really working for Indian markets.