PE firms invest $3.3 billion in Jan – Mar quarter

Private equity firms invested about $3.3 billion across 97 deals in January March quarter 2008. The investment was higher compared to the same quarter a year ago, where it was $2.7 billion from 101 deals. However this investment was lower than the preceding quarter which saw 131 deals worth $5 billion.

The largest investment reported in the Jan March quarter 2008 was $ 395 million raised by Sofia Power Company, a part of India bulls group. Telecom continued to attract investor’s interest with KKR and Morgan Stanley investing in tower infrastructure firms like Bharti Infratel and Tower Vision. Other companies that raised $100 Million plus during the quarter were Cairn India and Ballarpur Paper Holdings amongst others.

Despite the turmoil in the global financial markets, PE investments during January to March 2008 registered growth over the corresponding period in 2007. This indicates that PE firms are still bullish on India story going ahead.