PE investments in India touch $6.8 bn in Jan-Mar: PwC Report

Private equity investment activity in India touched USD 6.8 billion in the January-March quarter by way of 130 transactions led by the IT & ITeS sector, says a PwC report.
According to the PwC MoneyTree India report, the USD 6.8 billion PE investment is second only to the around USD 6.9 billion in the third quarter of 2015.
The quarterly study of private equity investment activity based on data provided by Venture Intelligence further noted that the average deal size for the first quarter of this year was around USD 52.3 million.
"With valuations at an all-time high, deal activity in the coming quarters is likely to continue at a watchful pace, with investors looking for quality deals," PwC India leader, Private Equity, Sanjeev Krishan said.

Krishan further noted that the dismantling of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), should drive investor confidence and positivity going forward.
As per the report, the PE appetite continued to be strong with late-stage investments accounting for almost 44 per cent of the investment value this quarter, while early-stage investments declined by around 30 per cent in terms of value as compared to the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the value of PIPE (private investment in public equity) deals increased almost threefold over the last quarter of 2016 to around USD 1.6 billion.

Sectorwise, IT & ITeS sector witnessed highest investment activity (USD 3.3 billion invested), followed by Telecom and the Banking, Financial services & Insurance (BFSI) sector.
Regionally, National Capital Region (NCR) raced ahead of Mumbai with total investments worth around USD 2.4 billion, followed by Bengaluru and Mumbai in the second and third spot respectively.
"Investments in new technologies such as IoT, AI, automation, smart mobility, P2P payments and remote monitoring are growing, thus paving the way for their entry into the mainstream digital economy," said Sandeep Ladda, PwC India leader - Technology.