PE deal value touch $3.8 bn in first half this year

The total private equity deal value in the first half of this year amounted to $3.8 billion -- a slump of as much as 45% from the year-ago period, a report says.

According to audit, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton India, in the first half of this year there were as many as 218 private equity deals worth $3.8 billion, while in the year-ago period, there were 195 deals totalling $5.5 billion.

"Private equity activity in the first half of this year was about 45% down in value terms compared to the corresponding period a year ago," Grant Thornton India Partner Raja Lahiri said.

Lahiri further said "the current time can actually offer good M&A and investment opportunities for corporates having the cash strength to do acquisitions".

A sectors-wise analysis shows that pharma, healthcare and biotech cornered the maximum number of deals (16%), followed by IT and ITeS (14%), the report said.

Banking and financial services sector cornered 13% of the overall PE deals, followed by real estate (10%) and power and energy (9%).

"Healthcare and internet space appears to be sectors liked by some of the players and these sectors continue to attract good investor interest," Lahiri added.

The key PE deals in first half of this year included Morgan Stanley's investment in Continuum Energy ($210 million), Accel and Tiger Global's investment in Flipkart ($150 million) and Temasek's investment into Godrej Consumer ($137 million), the report added.