In a record run, Private Equity and Venture Capital investors in India realised gains totalling over USD 6 billion (about Rs. 38,000 crore) so far in 2015, through exits from various ventures they had invested in.
According to a study by Venture Intelligence, 2015 so far has been the best year for ‘exits’ by the PE and VC investors.
The PE firms exit their investments in a company through options like an initial public offering, a trade sale, selling to another private equity firm or a company buy-back.
The USD six billion gain made between January and July of 2015 is 33 per cent higher than the earlier record figure of USD 4.5 billion, realised in the years 2010 and 2005, Venture Intelligence said.
Sector-wise, companies in the IT & ITES, BFSI, Telecom and Media & Entertainment industries have led the list of successful exits till July this year, as they have returned USD 2.4 billion, USD 1 billion, USD 770 million and USD 280 million respectively, to investors.
PE investors have also reaped rich returns so far this year by selling their stakes in publicly listed Banking, Financial Services and Insurance industry (BFSI) companies.
TPG Capital sold its 20 per cent stake in Shriram City Union Finance for almost Rs. 2,500 crore (to Apax Partners) fetching itself over four times return on its 2008 investment, the Venture Intelligence analysis showed.
The January to July period also saw Media & Entertainment companies like PVR Cinemas, Dish TV, Ortel Communications and UFO Movies serve big exits to their PE investors.
While L Capital Asia completely exited PVR with over three times return, Apollo Management exited DishTV partially with more than two times return.
PE/VC investors also sold shares worth USD 1.9 billion in already listed companies (like Shriram City Union Finance, ING Vysya Bank among others) via the public markets, in the first half of 2015.
With number of PE-backed IPOs picking up, the exits via Public Market Sales route is expected to exceed the previous high by year end, the Venture Intelligence report added.
