Jan-Nov PE investment deal tally at USD 19.42 bn: Thornton

Private equity investments saw a significant uptrend in November with deals worth $3 billion, taking the year-to-date (YTD) deal tally to $19.42 billion, says a report.

According to assurance, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton, there were 63 private equity deals worth $3,019 million in November this year as against 62 such transactions worth $903 million in the year-ago period.

"Though private equity deal volumes remained stable, deal values surged over 3 times as compared to transaction activity during the same period last year," said Prashant Mehra- Partner at Grant Thornton India LLP.

An investment of $1.8 billion by Bain Capital and LIC in Axis Bank alone contributed to about 60% of the total value of private equity deals in November 2017.

In terms of deal volumes, startups continue to capture the interest of the PEs contributing to about 80 per cent of the PE deal volumes, Mehra said.

During January-November, there were 687 deals worth $19,421 million, whereas in the same period last year the figure stood at $11,455 million through 899 deals.

Supported by a surge in big-ticket investments, the private equity investments recorded a significant 70% increase in value as compared to YTD 2016, while volumes declined by 24%.

"E-commerce, banking, real estate, startup, retail & consumer and telecom sectors brought in large deals in year- to-date 2017, contributing over 82% of total values, while volumes continued to be dominated by the startup sector contributing 61% of volumes," the report said.

Going forward, the pipeline for reforms in the run-up to elections in various states and government's effort to attract foreign capital in core sectors, is expected to keep the deal activity high in the coming months, Mehra said.

Sectorwise, startups, banking and insurance, e-commerce, manufacturing, pharma, healthcare and biotech will be the key sectors that are expected to see action, he added.