DNA Money Edit: Consumer tech takes lead in PE deals

The consumer technology sector is in focus as private equity and venture capital-backed exits surge in India. It has overshadowed other sectors in terms of both value and volume, though some deals by the Unicorns such as Flipkart, Paytm and Ola account for a lion's share. Consumer tech surely has untapped potential as sky is the limit for e-commerce, online delivery and social networking. Going forward, the sector will continue to draw more attention, according to experts.

According to consultancy firm Bain and Co, a large chunk of deals in 2018 concentrated among a few well-funded firms. For instance, hotel chain Oyo Rooms and food-delivery start-up Swiggy raised $1 billion each. Some of the other major deals included Blackstone's sale of Intelenet and Australia-based infrastructure fund Macquarie's $1.5 billion acquisition of Indian road assets from the National Highways Authority of India. The infrastructure and real estate sectors drew big deals as well.

The other sector that saw a spurt in action is financial services, with non-banking financial companies and banks contributing more than half. Interestingly, investors seem to have chosen share market sale as a preferred route over strategic sales.

The general elections due in April-May may delay deals for now. But going forward, they will pick up momentum in some sectors such as IT services, financial services and healthcare.