PE investments down 61% in India, here are the top ten deals of 2023

Private equity investments in India dropped 61% during the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, with sum of equity invested amounting to US$6.1 billion.

Private equity investments in India dropped 61 per cent to $6.1 billion during the first half of 2023 compared to the year-ago period due to persistent macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical headwinds and tight credit markets. This is the lowest first half period by value for PE investments in India since 2020, showed data analysed by Refinitiv.

PE investments in the second quarter of CY23 stood at $3.53 billion, 49% lower than Q2 of last year ($7 billion).

Despite the challenging environment, private equity fundraising activity in India saw some uptick in number of firms and funds raising capital in the second quarter.

 Number of funds saw a 53 per cent  sequential increase during the second quarter of 2023 from the first quarter of 2023, with a cumulative total of S$2.6 billion (up 0.8% from 1Q2023). 

This brings total PE fundraising activity in India to reach $5.2 billion during the first half of 2023, down 27% from a year ago.

"Given the record amount raised by India-based PE funds in 2022 (US$13.7 billion) , there is substantial capital waiting to be deployed, raising over US$24 billion from 2021 through 1H2023, in alternative growth and strong start-up markets like India and Southeast Asia”, said  Elaine Tan, Senior Analyst at Refinitiv, an LSEG Business.

The total number of deals in the June quarter declined by 17.1% to 300 compared with 362 in the same period last year, the data showed.

Internet-specific companies continue to attract maximum PE interest with $2.04 billion invested in the first half of this year. The sum of equity invested in the sector, however, has decreased by 68.8%, with the number of deals declining to 188 from 262 during the same period last year.

Transportation (-48.3% yoy), Financial Services (-83.2% yoy), as well as Consumer Related (-80.7% yoy) have witnessed a decline in the sum invested as compared to H1 2022.

 However, Industrial / Energy by 354.1% and industries catering to Utilities witnessed also experienced a a significant increase in sum of equity.