‘Private equity investment hits record $19.5b in 2015’

NEW DELHI: Private equity investments during the October-December period totalled $ 3.9 billion, taking the deal value for the year 2015 to $19.5 billion - the "best ever" for India, says a report.

According to the PwC MoneyTree India report, a quarterly study of PE investment activity based on data provided by Venture Intelligence, the fourth quarter of 2015 saw investments worth $3.9 billion, a 12% drop as compared to the same period of 2014. However, despite the drop, the stellar performance throughout the year helped 2015 become the best year ever, with a total of $19.5 billion worth of PE inflows across 159 deals.

"India's macros are looking good, with the current account and fiscal deficit at acceptable levels, a relatively stable rupee, inflation at below 5% and, most importantly, a declining interest rate regime. This should encourage private investment as demand picks up," PwC India leader, Private Equity Sanjeev Krishan said. Sectorwise, the information technology and ITenabled services (IT & ITeS) continued to be the biggest sector, as this space attracted $1.3 billion in 93 deals, followed by the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector that attracted $910 million in 10 deals.

"In 2015, sectors such as banking, insurance and telecom saw the stabilisation of their business and opened up their technology spend over the year, thereby driving the growth of the Indian IT & ITeS industry," PwC India leader - Technology, Sandeep Ladda said. "Media & entertainment sector was a surprise, attracting investments worth $414 million," the report said.

Regionally, Mumbai attracted $ 1.9 billion, while Bengaluru was a distant second with investments worth USD 733 million. Going forward, Krishan said, "financial services, technology and healthcare continue to see sustained activity in 2016, while e-commerce fund raising may get challenging this year at least in the near term". He added that the Indian Government's focus on making it easier for foreign investors to do business in India will help from a perception standpoint and needs to be backed by real reform.