TresVista Financial Services 02 | Page 5

TRESVISTA FINANCIAL SERVICES and unique business culture. Contrast to 2009, when Indian deal value saw the region’s biggest decline, India saw the largest increase in deal activity among the big Asia-Pacific markets in 2011. Total deal value more than doubled in 2010 to $8.2bn, and the number of deals rose to 362. Nearly every major sector of the Indian economy participated in the strong deal-making recovery, with the energy sector attracting the most capital. With financial crisis affecting the global economy and domestic concerns, industry participants have had to tackle with significant new challenges. With that, PE firms are now aware that they need to reassess their strategies and how they can continue to deliver superior returns especially when the traditional drivers of the past such as GDP growth, multiple expansions, and ready availability of capital, no longer provide the lift they once did; by increasing investments in India. PE firms invested $10,117.0mn over 441 deals in India during 2011, compared to $8,187.0mn across 362 deals during the previous year taking the total investments by PE firms over the past five years to about $47.0bn across 2,062 transactions. Why PIPEs PE funds, which mostly invest in private companies, are buying stakes in listed companies trading at attractive prices, as the downturn in stock markets in the recent past has brought down valuations of companies offering significant investment opportunities for PE firms. PIPE is seen as one of the most attractive markets for qualified individual investors and accredited institutional funds. A PIPE deal is a directly negotiated transaction between an accredited investor and an issuer, a public listed company. PE firms prefer PIPEs as these allow the funds to sell their investments in just a year or two, compared with the average four-five year wait for exits in privately held firms. Also, PIPE investments are attractive as corporate governance, transparenc 䁅