India’s dealmaking activity moderated in May after an exceptionally strong April, even as investor appetite for large-ticket deals remained intact, according to Grant Thornton’s latest Dealtracker report.

A total of 190 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and private equity (PE) deals worth $10.2 billion were recorded in May, compared with 212 deals valued at $21.8 billion in April. The sharp decline in overall deal value was largely because April included Sun Pharma’s $11.8 billion acquisition of US-based Organon.

Excluding this outlier, overall deal values remained largely stable on a month-on-month basis, indicating continued momentum in underlying deal activity despite lower reported volumes, says Shanthi Vijetha, Partner, Deals Lifecycle, Grant Thornton Bharat.