PE deals cross $3 bn

A spate of late-stage contracts drove up private equity (PE) deals in the first quarter of calendar year 2008. PE deals in January-March 2008 touched $3.3 billion, higher than the year-ago period, which registered 101 deals fetching $2.7 billion, according to the data released by Venture Intelligence, a private equity research company.

However, $3.3 billion mopped up through 97 private equity deals in the March 2008 quarter were lower than 131 deals totalling $5 billion in the preceding December 2007 quarter.

Volatility in the secondary market injected a dose of caution on the Private Investments in Public Enterprise (Pipe) front, which is an alternative investment strategy for private equity funds. Weighed down by bearish market sentiments, Pipe deals in the first three months of 2008 fell to $558 million from $879 million in the corresponding period of 2007.

Funds averse to speculating in a market, which has corrected by about 30 per cent since January this year, have stayed away from Pipe deals during the period.