PE players seal over $1.17 bn deals in January: Thornton

Private equity investments witnessed heightened interest in IT & ITeS, particularly in the e-commerce space, which drove both values and volumes

Private equity deals worth $1.17 billion were sealed in the very first month of this year, registering a jump of 74 per cent over last year, says a Grant Thornton report.

According to the assurance, tax and advisory firm, the upward trend in PE investment activity continued in January with 74 per cent higher deal values compared to the same month last year.

In January 2014 there were 54 private equity deals worth $675 million.

Private equity investments witnessed heightened interest in IT & ITeS, particularly in the e-commerce space, which drove both values and volumes.

In one such investments, online marketplace ShopClues raised over $100 million from a group of investors led by Tiger Global.

The month also saw big ticket investments from global PE players into the Indian hospital sector, led by Manipal Health Enterprises' proposed sale of its 24.75 per cent stake to global private investment firm TPG.

BFS also witnessed renewed interest, with Ujjivan Financial receiving close to $100 million of funding, making it the single largest investment into a microfinance lender in India.

Other top PE deals of the month include, IDFC -India Infrastructure Fund's $81 million investment in DB Power Limited for a 15 per cent stake in the company and SAIF partners' $60 million investment in One97 Communications, the Grant Thornton report said.

Sector-wise, IT & ITeS attracted 37 transactions worth $411 million, followed by pharma and healthcare (5 deals, $303 million) and media and entertainment (5, deals $39 million) respectively.

"IT & ITeS continue to lead both M&A and PE activity in India with M&A majorly driven by consolidation trends within the sector and PE still maintaining the sector as flavour of the month," Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Prashant Mehra said.