India Inc sees private equity deals worth $1.14B in May: report

Private equity (PE) investments saw a marginal fall of four percent in the country to $1.14 billion in May in terms of deal value, according to a report by Grant Thornton.

There were 48 PE deals worth $1.138 billion in May, while in the corresponding month of last year, there were 53 such transactions worth $1.18 billion, said the report.

"Despite witnessing a fall of 87 percent in M&A (merger and acquisition) deal values and 27 percent drop in M&A deal volumes, PE deals remained on par with the activity recorded in May 2018," it added.

During the month, startups accounted for more than half of the total PE investment volumes and topped the investment value chart capturing 52 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

The month witnessed a $200-million investment in Grofers, making it one of the largest investments in the online grocery retailing segment, the report added. The online grocery platform had raised more than $200 million as part of its Series F funding round, which was led by SoftBank Vision Fund. 

The report also stated that the investment resulted in the ecommerce sector capturing 20 percent of PE values, while this deal alone accounted for 18 percent of total PE deal values.

Apart from startup and ecommerce, energy and banking sectors also witnessed big-ticket investments of over $50 million.

Grant Thornton India Director Pankaj Chopda said, "May being the month of election results, the uncertainty in deal landscape is expected to soon fade away in the coming months." Startup funding activity saw a significant slowdown in the fourth week of May ahead of the announcement of results for the Lok Sabha polls. 

Another term for the government will only increase the expectations to streamline the existing reforms and introduce new reforms making it conducive for renewed deal activity in the coming months, he added.

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