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Private equity fund Norwest on Thursday announced that it has led a Rs 1,465-crore investment in the Hyderabad-based non-bank lender IKF Finance. The investment includes both primary share issuances and also secondary transactions, according to a statement. Norwest has led the round with a USD 100 million or about Rs 850 crore investment, it said. The company, founded in 1991, operates in nine states, offering secured retail loans and credit for small businesses. It also gives loans against property and affordable home finance through a home finance subsidiary. It had a loan book of Rs 6,700 crore as of March 2025. The company is backed by Accion and its limited partners, it said, adding that existing investor Motilal Oswal PE has also invested in the current round. "This is our largest fundraise to date and a key milestone in our journey to expand access to inclusive, flexible financial solutions for underserved communities," the company's founder and chairman VGK Prasad said. Th
Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) funds invested USD 4 billion in November, which was 156 per cent higher than the year-ago period but lower about 15 per cent compared with the preceding month, a report said on Wednesday. The month saw 87 deals -- 47 per cent higher than the 59 transactions in November 2023, as per the report by industry lobby grouping IVCA and consultancy firm EY. "While 2024 had started off on a strong note, geopolitical tensions, uncertainty over US elections outcome, and inflation weighed on the markets, as did the bid-ask spread between seller expectations and buyer valuations," the consultancy firm's partner Vivek Soni said. Soni said pure-play PE/VC investments in November totalled USD 3.5 billion in November, a 297 per cent increase compared to the USD 873 million in November 2023 and 27 per cent higher than the USD 2.7 billion in October 2024. The real estate and infrastructure asset class declined by a fifth when compared to the year-ago period t
Private equity inflows plunged 75.4 per cent to USD 2.2 billion in the March quarter, making it the sixth consecutive quarter of decline, amid global macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds, according to a report. At USD 2.2 billion of inflows, this is the lowest private equity investment in the country since 2018, when it stood at USD 1.7 billion, according to the data tabulated by the financial markets data and insights provider Refinitiv, an LSEG Business unit. Internet-specific and computer software companies continued to attract the largest share of private equity capital, the report said. However, its share declined to 58 per cent from 75 per cent in the same period last year, primarily due to fewer deals. With turbulent market conditions and uncertainty, private equity fundraising activity also fell 41 per cent this year compared to the first quarter of 2022 and saw a 45 per cent decline sequentially. On a sequential basis, the Q1 decline was 31.9 per cent year-on-year when