PE firms invest $2bn in Indian companies in Q1, 2010

Private equity firms invested about $2 billion in Indian firms through 56 deals in the quarter ended March 2010, according to a study by Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on private equity and M&A transaction activity in India. This the highest levels of investments made over the last six quarters.

The figure was significantly higher compared to the same period last year, in which $620 million was invested across 58 deals, as well as the immediate previous quarter, when $1,681million was invested across 102 deals.

The single largest investment made during the quarter ended March was $425 million invested into power generation firm, Asian Genco, by General Atlantic, Morgan Stanley, Norwest, Goldman Sachs and Everstone.

Other top investments reported during Q1 2010 include Quadrangle Capital Partners' $300 million investment into telecom tower infrastructure company TowerVision India; StanChart PE, KKR and New Silk Route's $217 million investment into Coffee Day Resorts and TPG Growth's $115 million investment into Clean Tech firm Greenko Group.

''The key trend on the PE investments front during Q1'10 was the re-emergence of appetite for large ticket deals,'' remarked Arun Natarajan, MD & CEO of Venture Intelligence. ''For the first time since Q3 2008, the latest quarter witnessed as many as five investments over $100 million,'' he pointed out.

Led by Actis' $50 million investment into BPO company Integreon Managed Solutions, the IT & ITES industry registered 13 deals worth $193 million during the quarter, followed by the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector with 9 deals, worth $94 million.