Chennai: Private equity (PE) investments fell 34% in the quarter ended 30 June as deal sizes shrank and the number of such transactions dropped.
PE firms invested about $1.85 billion across 102 transactions during the quarter, down from $2.8 billion across 126 transactions in the year earlier, according to a study by Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on private equity and merger and acquisition activity in India.The investments were also 10% less than that in the preceding March quarter.
There were only four private equity investments worth over $100 million during the June quarter compared with 10 such transactions in the same period last year, according to the study.
The largest private equity investment in the second quarter of 2012 was Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners’ Rs 1,200 crore investment in Continuum Wind Energy, a Singapore-based developer of wind assets in India. The second-largest was Fairbridge Capital’s acquisition of a 77% stake in Thomas Cook (India) for Rs 817.4 crore. Warburg Pincus’ acquisition of a 53.67% stake in Future Capital Holdings for Rs 563 crore was the third-largest.
Technology companies attracted $379 million, or 21% of the total investments, across 42 transactions during the June quarter, snatching the lead from the healthcare and life sciences industry, which topped in terms of attracting investments in the preceding quarter. Five renewable power project deals that attracted about $299 million claimed the second spot. Healthcare and life sciences companies came in third, attracting $243 million across 12 investments.
