PE deals worth $1.7 bn sealed in August: Thornton

New Delhi: Private equity deals worth USD 1.7 billion were announced in India in August, registering multiple growth over the same period last year, driven by positive macro-level indicators, a Grant Thornton report said.

According to the assurance, tax and advisory firm, there were 102 deals worth USD 1.72 billion in August, while in the corresponding period last year there were 48 such transactions worth USD 526 million.

"PE and inbound deals continue to demonstrate growth perhaps because the overall macro level indicators continue to look positive, whereas domestic M&A activity and outbound transactions have been falling behind," Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Prashant Mehra said.

August witnessed a total deal value (including merger and acquisition and PE) of around USD 2.6 billion, out of which PE deals accounted for USD 1.7 billion.

"This seems primarily because corporate balance sheets continue to be stretched for cash to invest in inorganic growth and also foreign assets having become expensive due to the recent rupee depreciation," Mehra said.

A sector-wise analysis shows that IT & ITES continued to be the preferred sector for PE/VC investments, with 67 percent of total volume.

Within this sector, the e-commerce space witnessed more than 50 investments, the report added.

In one such deal, online marketplace Snapdeal raised USD 500 million in a fresh round of funding from a clutch of investors led by Alibaba Group, Foxconn and SoftBank.

Other top PE deals include KKR's USD 150 million investment in Mumbai-based polyester maker JBF Industries and global investment bank Goldman Sachs picking up a minority stake in Mumbai-based Piramal Realty for nearly Rs 900 crore.

Meanwhile, sectors like IT and ITES, manufacturing, real estate, energy, natural resources and retail and consumer also witnessed big ticket PE investments of over USD 100 million.

According to the report, uptick was also seen during the January-August period, when PE investments saw a sharp rise of 74 percent year-on-year with high value investments in sectors like IT and ITES, energy and natural resources, manufacturing, BFS and pharma.