The month of May witnessed the highest number of private equity investment deals in more than three years, attracting $1.4 billion, Grant Thornton, a global consultancy firm said.
According to Grant Thornton, PE deal values amounted to $1.14 billion through 43 deals in May, 2011, compared to $0.26 billion by way of 15 deals during the corresponding month last year.
"PE investment volume has witnessed a significant upsurge during May, 2011, with the highest number of deals after more than three years," Grant Thornton India Partner and National Leader – Valuation Services CG Srividya said, adding that "there have been several large-sized deals with four investments valued at over $100 million."
In May, 2011, 43 PE investments were witnessed, whereas in May, 2010, the figure stood at 15 and in May, 2009, the level was just a meagre 13 transactions.
On the merger and acquisition front, there were deals worth $4.22 billion last month by way of 55 transactions, as against $8.11 billion through 52 deals in 2010, the report said.
The PE investment value so far this year stands at $4.03 billion, around twice the level it was a year ago ($2.65 billion), whereas the total M&A deal value so far this year is comparable to last year.
The month of May was also a month of big-ticket deals, with the top five PE deals accounting for 57% of the total PE deals value and the top five M&A deals accounted for 79% of the total M&A deals value.
"There have been several high value deals this month, with 4 M&A transactions valued at over a quarter billion. We have also seen several new sectors such as shipping & ports and electrical doing large deals," Srividya said.
The same was the case in the PE space as well, where "there have been several large-sized deals, with four investments valued at over $100 million," Srividya added.
The total value of M&A and PE deals in the month of May, 2011, stood at $5.38 billion via 99 deals, as compared to $8.60 billion by way of 72 deals in the corresponding month of 2010.