New Delhi July 9 (IANS) Private equity or venture capital investments clocked 46 per cent growth in the first six months of 2018 to $15.2 billion across 351 deals on the back of strong buyout activity investments in infrastructure and real estate asset classes a report said on Monday.
Like last year the strong growth continues to be driven by large deals. The first half of 2018 recorded 36 deals of value greater than $100 million aggregating $11.5 billion as compared to 20 deals aggregating $6.6 billion in the corresponding period in 2017 an EY report said.
"PE/VC investment activity in India has continued its strong performance in 2018 (despite global headwinds) with both investments and exits exceeding the numbers recorded in the first half of 2017. Buyout as a theme has become even stronger in 2018 and is on course to become a prominent facet of PE investing in India " said Vivek Soni Partner and National Leader Private Equity Services EY.
The entry of large pension funds looking to invest directly into yield generating assets has provided a significant impetus to investments in the infrastructure and real estate asset classes he said.
"In our view notwithstanding headwinds like high oil prices depreciating currency and potential of global trade wars 1H18 performance on PE/VC investments exits and fundraise has been strong and appears to be well on course to surpass the record highs of 2017 " Soni said.
The report however said exits recorded $5.5 billion across 99 deals with large exits in industrial products renewables and retail.

--IANS bdc/vd