Private equity investments as well as merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions

in the country have witnessed consistent growth so far this year, as deals worth
over $52 billion have been announced in this space.
According to data compiled by research firm VCCEdge, the total private equity in
vestments till September this year stood at $7.18 billion, while M&A activity fo
r the first three quarters of 2010 reached at $45.1 billion.
In the month of September the total M&A deal value amounted to $11.7 billion. Th
ough the M&A activity in September noticed a drop on a quarter-on-quarter basis,
but has quadrupled from last yearâ s level, the report said.
The most active sectors in terms of deal value was energy, which saw deals worth
$4.6 billion, followed by healthcare ($1.8 billion) and industrials ($1.7 billi
on), and materials ($1.6 billion).
â Together they accounted for 85% of the total deal value so far this year,â the VCCEdge
report said.
An analysis of the M&A deals shows that outbound deals were the flavour of the q
uarter, as these deals witnessed a huge jump in terms of deal value at $4.39 bil
lion, up nearly 17 times than last year.
The value of domestic deals almost doubled to $2.79 billion in September quarter
, compared to last year, while the value of inbound deals stood at $3.16 billion
, as against $0.97 billion in Q3 2009.
In the private equity segment for the quarter ended September 2010, the total an
nounced deal value was $2.89 billion, an over 2-fold jump from the year ago peri
od.
The deal count also went up to 109 deals from 77, in Q3 2009.
The average private equity deal value for the September quarter stood at $38 mil
lion. Big ticket deals constituted 52 per cent of the total private equity capit
al invested in Q3 2010.
A sectoral breakdown shows financials were the most sought after sector, as it r
eceived an investment of $922 million, followed by utilities ($502 million) and
Industries ($452 million).
Together these three accounted for 65% of total private equity deal value during
the quarter, VCCEdge added.
Source: Livemint