PE/VC funding till Nov at a record $27 bn: report

MUMBAI: Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments till November touched $27 billion, surpassing the record high of $26.1 billion in 2017, according to a report by global audit and consulting firm EY.November 2018 recorded $1.6 billion in PE-VC investments, 33% lower compared to the corresponding same month of 2017, and 49% lower than October. The fall in deal value was primarily due to lack of large deals ($100 millionplus), shows EY’s Private Equity Monthly Deal Tracker.

The month saw five large deals aggregating $950 million, while in November 2017 it took nine deals to arrive at the number. In October 2018, the combined value of six deals were worth $2.5 billion. Temasek-owned Mapletree Investments’ buyout of Chennai’s SP Infocity IT Park for $353 million was the largest deal in November. In the 11 months ended 30 November, acquisitions worth $7.4 billion were witnessed across 37 deals, which is more than the value of buyouts in the previous two years combined ($3 billion in 2017 and $3.9 billion in 2016). Start-up investments also saw a strong rebound in 2018 with $4.1 billion in VC and PE money, which is 17% higher than 2017, the report added.

Exits were a damper, declining 85%, compared to the $2.7 billion witnessed in November 2017, to $394 million.

“Though November 2018 has been a relatively weak month for PE-VC investments and exits, the momentum of PE-VC activity in India continues to be strong,” said Vivek Soni, partner and national leader-private equity services, EY.