Private equity and venture capital fund investments in the country stayed flat at $7.4 billion in April 2023, a report said on Tuesday.

However, when compared with the preceding March, the inflows were 37 per cent higher, the report by industry lobby grouping IVCA and consultancy firm EY said.

“The bid-ask spread between investors and sellers remains high and convergence on valuation multiples has not happened. This has resulted in deal evaluation periods getting extended,” the consultancy firm's partner Vivek Soni said.

Also read: Record fundraising by private equity investors in 2022

Soni said activity is better in sectors like healthcare and financial services, and added that apart from these two, infrastructure and real estate will be the bright spots for investments in the short term.

Deal breakdown

In terms of the number of deals, April 2023 recorded 49 transactions, which is a 55 per cent decline compared to the year-ago period and 32 per cent lower when compared with March.

It included 12 large deals of value greater than $100 million aggregating to $6.7 billion, which was a 19 per cent increase over the year-ago period.

By deal type, growth investments were the highest in terms of value in April 2023 at $4.5 billion across 12 deals compared to $4.9 billion invested across 23 deals in April 2022.

Also read: VC investment in Indian AI start-ups zooms

From a sector point of view, infrastructure topped followed by healthcare, while technology, e-commerce, financial services, and media and entertainment were the worst performers, the report said.

April recorded 15 exits worth $1.6 billion compared to $2.9 billion recorded in April 2022 across 27 deals and $2.1 billion recorded across 34 deals in March 2023.

The month recorded total fundraises of $193 million, compared to $1.5 billion raised in April 2022, it said.

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