Unicorns rule the roost when it comes to acquisitions in India, says report

While this data showed that a unicorn like Quikr was involved in 12 acquisitions since 2016, data by Crunchbase showed that India’s largest tech firm Tata Consultancy Services Ltd had made just two such acquisitions, added the report.

According to the report, it's not just the volume of acquisitions but also the success of such actions that is leading the way for unicorns against the other companies. The best example was Myntra, which was acquired by Flipkart for nearly $330 million in 2014, the report said. When Walmart purchased Flipkart, Myntra comprised $5.5-6.5 billion of the deal value, becoming one of the most successful acquisitions by a unicorn in India so far, it added.

The reason for the success of unicorns when it comes to acquisitions has a lot to do with the size of the deals, as per the report. Unlike traditional firms which primarily focus on big deals, the unicorns make purchases in the range of $40-50 million or just acqui-hires, where a startup is bought primarily for the skills or expertise of its employees and not the products or services it may be offering, added the report.