It’s a Trickle

There’s some way to go before business confidence in India comes back to the heady levels of 2007-08

In an indication that there’s some way to go before business confidence in India comes back to the heady levels of 2007-08, private equity firms invested about $888 million across 44 deals during the quarter ended June 2009, according to Venture Intelligence, a PE and mergers and acquisitions transaction research firm. While the amount invested during the latest quarter was significantly lower than that during the same period last year (which witnessed $2.6 billion invested across 92 deals), it was higher than that in the immediate previous quarter ($612 million across 43 deals). Among the larger investments during the quarter was the reported Rs 600 crore in additional capital raised by telecom infrastructure firm Quippo Telecom from its existing investors (IDFC PE and Oman Investment Fund) and the acquisition of a 2.1 per cent stake in NSE by Norwest Ventures for Rs 250 crore. The Infotech & ITeS industry registered 12 deals worth $67 million in the three months between April and June 2009, followed by healthcare and life sciences (with six deals worth $129 million) and BFSI (six deals worth $116 million). “While IT & ITeS continued to attract the most number of PE investments, investment in the industry has declined in both value and volume terms for the fourth straight quarter,” notes Arun Natarajan, CEO of Venture Intelligence.

Late-stage and venture capital-type investments accounted for 15 deals (34 per cent) each during April-June 2009. Late-stage deals accounted for 54 per cent of the investments in value terms. Buyouts made a comeback during that quarter, with three deals after none in the previous quarter.

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