Big-ticket acquisitions by Indian companies are back. After massive deals in 2007-08, corporates are once again scouting for opportunities overseas in a big way.On Monday ONGC announced it will pay $5 billion to buy 8.4 per cent stake in Kazakhstan's Kashagan oilfield owned by a consortium of six global oil majors. It includes ConocoPhillips, Italy's Eni, ExxonMobil, Inpex Corp of Japan, Royal Dutch Shell, and France's Total.Earlier in the week, there were reports that said Mahindra and Mahindra will buy 50 per cent stake in iconic British carmaker Aston Martin. Though the deal size is not yet known, reports estimate that it would be around $400 million.Tata Group's Indian Hotels is still pursuing Orient-Express. According to recent reports, Tatas may increase their $1.86 billion buyout offer, after facing a rejection by the US-listed company.In the first week of November Sun Pharmaceutical Industries went for US-based DUSA pharmaceuticals, a company focused on dermatology. The deal size is pegged at $230 million.While the investors wait for outcome of Mahindra & Mahindra's, ONGC's and Tata's bids, here are 15 biggest acquisitions Indian companies have made overseas, according to data compiled by Dealogic.

Deal size: $12.98 billionIndian company: Tata GroupAcquired: CorusCountry: United KingdomAnnouncement date: October 2006Click NEXT for more...

Image: Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Group

Deal size: $10.7 billionIndian company: Bharti AirtelAcquired: Zain Africa Country: KenyaAnnouncement date: February 2010

Deal size: $5.73 billionIndian company: Hindalco IndustriesAcquired: NovelisCountry: CanadaAnnouncement date: February 2007Click NEXT for more...

Image: Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group

Deal size: $5 billionIndian company: ONGCTo acquire: Oil & Gas Assets (Kashagan oilfield)Country: KazakhstanAnnouncement date: November 2012(The deal is yet to close)

Deal size: $2.62 billionIndian company: ONGCAcquired: Imperial Energy CorpCountry: United KingdomAnnouncement date: August 2008

Deal size: $2.3 billionIndian company: Tata Motors LtdAcquired: Jaguar Cars and Land RoverCountry: United KingdomAnnouncement date: March 2008

Deal size: $2 billionIndian company: Tanti Group of Companies and Arcapita Bank BSCcAcquired: Majority stake in Honiton Energy HoldingsCountry: ChinaAnnouncement date: April 2010(Tanti Group of Companies belongs to Tulsi Tanti, chairman and managing director of Suzlon Energy)Click NEXTfor more

Image: Tulsi Tanti

Deal size: $1.97 billionIndian company: Adani EnterprisesAcquired: Port Terminals (Abbot Point X50 Coal Terminal)Country: AustraliaAnnouncement date: May 2011Click NEXT for more...

Image: Gautam Adani

Deal size: $1.79 billionIndian company: Essar GlobalAcquired: Algoma SteelCountry: CanadaAnnouncement date: April 2007Click NEXT for more...

Image: Essar's vice chairman Ravi Ruia at a news conference

Deal size: $1.7 billionIndian company: Reliance IndustriesAcquired: Oil & Gas Assets (Marcellus Shale)Country: United StatesAnnouncement date: April 2010Click NEXT for more...

Image: Mukesh Ambani attends a session at the World Economic Forum

Deal size: $1.67 billionIndian company: Indian Hotels CoTo acquire: Orient-Express HotelsCountry: BermudaAnnouncement date: October 2012(The deal is yet to close)Click NEXT for more...

Image: Staff of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel pose in Mumbai

Deal size: $1.65 billionIndian company: Essar GlobalAcquired: Minnesota SteelCountry: United StatesAnnouncement date: April 2007Click NEXT for more...

Image: An employee walks past columns of steel at a steel production factory

Deal size: $1.54 billionIndian company: ONGC Videsh, Oil India, Repsol YPF, Petroliam Nasional Bhd - Petronas and Indian Oil CorpAcquired: A stake in Empresa MixtaCountry: VenezuelaAnnouncement date: February 2010Click NEXT for more...

Photographs: Carlos Garcia Rawlings/Reuters

Deal size: $1.4 billionIndian company: Oil & Natural Gas CorpAcquired: Oil & Gas Assets (Campos Basin Oil Fields)Country: BrazilAnnouncement date: January 2006

Deal size: $1.35 billionIndian company: Reliance IndustriesAcquired: Oil & Gas Assets (Eagle Ford shale gas field)Country: United StatesAnnouncement date: June 2010

Image: A gas flare burns at a fracking site

Indian Hotels Company, owner and manager of Taj Hotels, reported a 29 per cent increase in net loss in the first half of this year at Rs 91 crore (Rs 910 million), though its stand-alone operations yielded a loss of only Rs 2.3 crore (Rs 23 million). Much of the loss at the consolidated level was attributed to the drag on account of the three operational properties of the US, including the luxurious Pierre on New York's Fifth Avenue, where the company had spent $100 million towards renovation, double its acquisition price, but far from generating returns.

Other acquired properties have not come cheap. The company invested a total of $228 million in acquiring Boston's Ritz-Carlton and Campton Place in San Francisco five years ago.Following the slowdown in travel and hospitality, a recovery has taken longer than usual for the company.When asked about the turnround in the US market, Anil Goel, executive director - finance, said: "It's going to take a bit more time. The US itself is going through its own issues. It will take some time for the US to become much more buoyant, and demand for hotel rooms to return, so there is pressure there. It's not going to be easy, it will take us at least 1.5-2 years."Click NEXT to read more...

Image: Pierre Hotel in New York.

The Pierre (also called Taj Hotel Manhattan) is one of the 17 properties the company has in its global portfolio. This portfolio, representing 16 per cent of its total hotel inventory of 116 properties, is minuscule compared to global peers.Indian Hotels, the second-largest hotel company in India (by room inventory), has a global share of 0.1 per cent at a little over 14,000 rooms against a total room supply of 13.44 million in the world, according to data of research firm STR Global.In comparison, Intercontinental Hotels Group, the world's largest hotel operator by number of rooms, has a market share of five per cent, with 675,000 rooms across seven brands.Click NEXT to read more...

Image: An Intercontinental hotel in Tokyo.Photographs: Kim Kyung Hoon/Reuters

Marriott International comes a close second with 650,000 rooms. Both are expanding aggressively in India. "The US properties (especially The Pierre) have been a sore point for the company's global foray. IHMS, which includes the Pierre, Taj Boston and Campton Place, registered the sixth straight year of negative performance (last year)."While the IHCL management had been guiding to a turnround in the US operations, there has been no change in performance. We believe it is largely to do with the fact that the US is a much more mature market and, hence, IHCL has to spend a lot more on advertising expenses while its RevPARs are lower than peers due to market positioning," added a Morgan Stanley report.Click NEXT to read more...

Image: Marriott hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

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