New Delhi: Corporate India witnessed significant deal activity in the September quarter this year, as private equity invested $8.7 billion and M&A transactions attracted $2.1 billion, says a report.
According to tax and accountancy network BDO India's latest report, investment of private equity and venture capital increased 180 per cent in value terms over the last year to reach $8.7 billion in the July-September quarter of 2017.
The M&A(mergers and acquisitions) deal momentum, however, moderated as there were 118 transactions worth $2,142 million as compared to $11,221 million announced in the corresponding period last year through 139 deals.
Absence of big ticket deals were largely responsible for the decline in September quarter deal tally.
In the July-September quarter, only six transactions valued at and above $100 million were announced as compared to 14 deals in the year-ago period, including three billion- dollar deals.
"Throughout 2017, India has continued to be a healthy deal-making market and is expected to keep growing in the coming years," the report said.
"While the number of deals has largely remained the same, the ticket sizes of deals as well as number of exits are increasingly reaffirming investor confidence in India," the report added.
In the September quarter, the financial services sector led deal activity by contributing more than 26 per cent of the total transaction value.
The most notable deal of the quarter was Dilip Buildcon Ltd's sale of its stake in 24 road assets to Shrem Group for an enterprise value of $250 million, making it the biggest transaction so far in 2017 in the infrastructure sector.
"Application of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is likely to increase the number of transactions going forward into the next quarter and fiscal year," the report added.
Retail investors push October equity MF inflows to ₹ 16K cr
New Delhi: Equity mutual funds registered a an inflow of over Rs 16,000 crore in October, buoyed by strong participation from retail investors, latest data with industry body Amfi showed.
This has taken the total inflow into such funds to over Rs 96,000 crore in the first seven months of the ongoing financial year.
"The mutual fund industry has been among the biggest beneficiaries of demonetisation, which resulted in low interest rates on bank deposits. The move also helped investors shift from physical assets to financial savings.
Years of perseverance by industry players and the regulator seems to have paid off, finally," Bajaj Capital CEO Rahul Parikh said.
"Inflows in April-October have already been robust. With 5 months to go in this fiscal and the burgeoning number of SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans) in equity and balanced funds, 2017-18 may go down as the best year yet for mutual fund inflows," he added.
According to the data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), equity funds, which also include equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS), saw net inflows of Rs 16,002 crore in October, compared to Rs 18,936 crore in the preceding month.
This also marks the 19th straight month of inflows into equity schemes. Prior to that, such funds had witnessed a pullout of Rs 1,370 crore in March 2016.
The strong inflows have pushed the asset base of equity mutual funds by more than 7 per cent to Rs 7.08 lakh crore at the end of October, from Rs 6.6 lakh crore in the month before.
SIPs have been the preferred route for retail investors to invest in mutual funds as it helps them bring down market timing risks. The industry received about Rs 5,621 crore last month through SIPs compared to Rs 5,516 crore in September.
It is an investment vehicle that allows investors to invest in small amounts periodically, instead of lumpsums. The frequency of investment is usually weekly, monthly or quarterly.