International Acquisitions by Indian Firms: Implications for Research on Emerging Multinationals

The rising phenomenon of cross-border acquisitions by emerging multinational companies from India provides a real time opportunity for scholars to unearth its distinctive character. Yet, going by the limited scholarly material documenting this phenomenon, there appears to be gap between practice and academia. The authors attempt to spur the imagination of the research community by revealing several anomalies in the broad pattern of data visible in cross-border acquisitions by Indian firms and the many merits of exploring its nuances. Using the Indian case as an exemplar of emerging economy context and analyzing some of the stylized aspects of the available data, the paper uncovers the numerous research questions that arise and thus provide an agenda for future research.