PE investments worth $17.6 bn reach all-time high in first 9 months of 2017

SoftBank's mega bets on Internet and mobile companies account for 24% of the total investment pie

Private equity investments have hit an all-time high this year with deals worth of $17.6 billion in the first nine months, largely driven by big-ticket transactions, says a report.

According to Venture Intelligence data, private equity firms invested about $17.6 billion in Indian companies in first nine months of 2017, sailing past the previous high of $17.3 billion in 2015.

The year has already recorded as many as 21 investments over $200 million in size, in addition to 15 deals between $100-200 million, the report said.

The mega deals have been dominated by four sectors -- Internet and mobile; infrastructure; IT services and BPO and BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance).

SoftBank's mega bets on Internet and mobile companies account for 24 per cent of the total investment pie.

According to the report, over $4 billion of investment value -- 24 per cent of the total -- has been committed by Japan-based SoftBank. Its investments included $250 million in budget hotel aggregator Oyo, $1.4 billion in mobile wallet leader Paytm and $2.5 billion in e-commerce leader Flipkart.

The report further said PE firms invested about $5.7 billion across 106 deals during July-September 2017, second highest after the March quarter that saw $6.4 billion investment across 163 transactions.

The September quarter recorded as many as 13 investments above $100 million compared to 10 in the same period last year.

SoftBank's $2.5 billion investment in Flipkart was the largest during the September quarter, the next three being accounted for by BFSI companies.

Some of the major PE transactions in July-September were Carlyle's $300 million in SBI Cards; the $260 million raised by RBL Bank and the $240 million buyout of investor services firm Karvy Computershare by General Atlantic.