PE investment deal tally touches $12.84 bn in Jan-aug

NEW DELHI: Private equity investments worth USD 1.33 billion were announced in August, taking the year-to-date deal value to USD 12.84 billion, says a report.

According to Grant Thornton’s PE Dealtracker, 67 PE investments worth USD 1.33 billion were announced in August, registering a decline of 73 per cent in terms of value over the year ago period even as there was an increase in the number of deals.

“PE transactions in August 2018 witnessed 43 per cent improvement in volumes, however, fell short on the deal value by 73 per cent as compared to August 2017,” Grant Thornton India LLP Director Pankaj Chopda said.

For the January-august period, there were 552 PE investment deals worth USD 12.8 billion, down 12 per cent over the same period last year when USD 14.57 million worth of investments were announced.

Going ahead, the deal outlook for PE investments looks bullish, the report said.

“Bearing in mind the drive for consolidation for strengthening market position, competition for acquiring IBC impacted assets and increasing role of PE in supporting IBC transactions, deal activity is expected to again gain momentum in the coming months,” Chopda said.

Moreover, successful subsequent round of fund raises and debut of new funds will also drive deal activity in the PE space, he added.

In terms of sector, the month of August was dominated by investments in start ups, which accounted for 67 per cent of total investment volumes. The sector also saw the biggest ever fund raise by an Indian healthcare start up, with Chiratae Ventures, Oaktree Capital, IDG Ventures, Accel Partners and Kalaari Capital investing USD 120 million in Curefit. August also witnessed KKR’S investment in Ramky Enviro Engineers, marking one of the largest buyouts in India, in addition to being the first private equity buyout in the country’s environmental services sector. According to the report, real estate, consumer and retail, BFSI, IT&ITES and startups are expected to be the focus sectors for PES.

“Sectors with high concentration of unorganised players and having appetite for scalability will attract significant demand from PES,” Chopda said.