PE investments slump as big-ticket deals vanish

Private equity deal momentum saw a significant downtrend in July with deals worth $768 million, registering a decline of 73 per cent over the same period a year ago, largely due to absence of big-ticket deals. According to assurance, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton, there were 86 PE deals worth $768 million in July this year while in the corresponding period last year, there were 111 transactions worth $2,839 million. "PE investments witnessed a downward trend both in terms of volumes (23 per cent year-on-year) and values (73 per cent yoy), marking the month's lowest investment values in the last three years due to absence of big-ticket investments (only 3 investments above $50 million compared to 11 in July 2015)," the report said. The year-to-date tally also suffered with deals worth $6,851 million in January-July as against $9,801 million last year.