With no mega deals, February PE investments decline by 60%
7 March 2018 11:26 PM IST
Mumbai: Private equity and venture capital investments in February registered a sharp 60 per cent month-on-month decline to $1.4 billion across 63 deals, due to the absence of any mega deals, says a report.
No major deals above the value of $300 million happened last month, causing the decline from January, which registered deals worth $3.5 billion, according to a report released by consultancy firm EY on Wednesday.
Exits also recorded a significant drop of over 70 per cent in terms of value and over 50 per cent in terms of volume, primarily on account of fewer open-market exits.
In terms of volume, however, investments grew by 17 per cent compared to January.
According to Vivek Soni, partner and leader for private equity advisory, EY, deal activity clearly suggests that PE/VC investors have taken a breather in February after a hectic January.
January was a good month for investments, witnessing a large investment worth $1.7 billion in mortgage major HDFC by a group of investors including GIC, KKR and others.
On a year-on-year basis, investments grew by 256 per cent to $393 million in February, while the the number of deals also more than doubled, the report said.
February witnessed four deals of over $100 million, aggregating $580 million, compared with none last year. The largest investment was $170-million investment by IIFL to purchase 30 per cent stake in NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure (NEGIL) from IDBI Bank.
This was followed by ASK Group's $155-million investment in Shriram Properties to setup a fund for investing into affordable, mid-housing and distressed assets. In terms of stages of investments, expansion or growth capital got the highest investments in February, with 22 deals worth $720 million.
In terms of volume, startup or early stage investing recorded the highest number of deals at 30, worth $295 million. There were three buyouts worth $86 million in February.
Sectorally, financial services led the activity in February, with $447 million invested across 13 deals, followed by technology with $296 million invested across 14 deals, the report noted.
February also witnessed 12 exits worth $234 million, lower in both volume and value, compared to January.
Next Story
