India's PE, QIP deal volume soar to $1.8 bn in 2 months

Private equity (PE) deals including qualified institutional placements witnessed a significant rebound in the first two months this year and amounted to over $1.8 billion, a report by global consultancy firm Grant Thornton says.

According to Grant Thornton's Dealtracker, in January 2010, there were 29 private equity (PE) including qualified institutional placement (QIP) deals amounting to $1.24 billion.

There were as many as 20 such deals (PE and QIP) totalling to around $583 million in February this year.

The PE and QIP deal volume in the first two months of 2010 aggregated to over $1.8 billion, representing a significant improvement over the corresponding period last year, when it stood at a modest $649 million during January-February 2009.

Commenting on the February 2010 deal volume, the firm's Partner Specialist Advisory Services C G Srividya said, "private equity investments have picked up significantly from the early 2009 levels and non-QIP investments contributed the most of the PE investments in February."

Regarding the January PE (including QIP) deal volume which touched a whopping $1.24 billion, Srividya said, "it is also extremely encouraging to note that private equity investments have bounced back almost close to the 2008 levels and more importantly, more than 60 per cent of the value have been pure play (non QIP) investments."