The aim of this research is to examine the impact of gender diversity and female leadership position on the firm performance of Indian listed firms participating in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities. Available research has focused on a small sample of firms and considered ‘gender diversity’ as the only variable. Bearing this in mind, this study focusses on the leadership positions females hold on corporate board along with gender diversity affecting the firm performance measures for the sample of M&A participating firms, as M&As lead to major restructuring of the board. The ‘gender diversity’ is measured with the number of females present on corporate board as directors, ‘leadership position’ is measured with females holding the position either as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chairperson on the board. The study employs panel data set for Indian non-financial National Stock Exchange listed M&A participating firms for the period 2013–2020. Using a system of GMM dynamic panel estimates, the study analyses the relationship between gender diversity and females’ varied leadership position on the firm performance measures, that is, return on asset, Tobin’s q. The findings reveal that there is a positive association between gender diversity and firm performance measures. Females holding the top leadership positions as either CEO or Chairperson on the board positively impact the firm performance measures. This study adds to the existing literature on gender diversity at the board level and M&A literature in the Indian context.