Private equity firms cash in on equity boom

Exit Rs 12,700 crore of investments by selling on stock exchanges this year

Private equity (PE) investors have sold shares worth over Rs 12,700 crore on the stock exchanges in January-June by way of secondary transactions as the Sensex hit an all-time high on Thursday.

This is a record by PE investors for any six-month period and a five-time jump from Rs 2,600 crore of exits through such sales in the corresponding period last year. 

PE investors had sold Rs 11,425 crore of shares on the stock exchanges in 2016. 

Data from management consulting firm EY also show the number of such transactions for the first six months of this year rose to