A snapshot of PE/VC activity during December 2024.
According to the IVCA-EY monthly PE/VC roundup, PE/VC exits in 2024 were at US$26.7 billion across 282 exits, a 7% growth y-o-y in value terms.
Investments
After reaching an all-time high of US$76.7 billion in 2021, PE/VC investments declined by 28% in 2022 and 3% in 2023. However, in 2024, it rebounded with a 5% year-on-year growth, aggregating to US$56.0 billion, up from US$53.4 billion in 2023. This increase in deal value was driven by a 54% rise in deal volume, with 1,352 deals in 2024 compared to 880 in 2023, primarily caused by private credit deals, whose volume increased by 256%.
Not with standing the strong growth in deal volume, cumulative PE/VC investment value was tempered by lack of growth in large deals (deals exceeding US$100 million). Consistent with the previous year 2024 recorded 125 large deals; however, the cumulative investment value decreased by 9% ($37.8 billion in 2024 vs. US$41.7 billion in 2023). Large deals accounted for 68% of overall investments in 2024, down from 78% in the previous year. Notably, the number of billion-dollar-plus deals dropped from six in 2023 to four in 2024.
The real estate and infrastructure sectors experienced a slight decline of 3% ($20.9 billion in 2024 compared to US$21.5 billion in 2023), pure-play PE/VC investments increased by 10%, aggregating to US$35.0 billion compared to US$31.9 billion in 2023. In terms of deal volume, both pure-play and real estate & infrastructure asset classes increased by 44% (1,085 deals in 2024 vs. 756 deals in 2023) and 115% (267 deals in 2024 vs. 124 deals in 2023), respectively. The largest PE deal of 2024 saw Data Infrastructure Trust (a Brookfield-sponsored InvIT) acquire ATC India Tower Corporation, the Indian arm of American Tower Corporation, for US$2 billion.
Buyout investments emerged as the leading segment in 2024, recording US$16.8 billion across 58 deals, reflecting a 39% year-on-year growth (up from US$12 billion across 58 deals in 2023). Growth investments, which had been the top segment in the previous year, slid to second place, aggregating to US$13.4 billion across 182 deals, a 21% decline from US$17 billion across 147 deals in 2023. Credit deals clinched the third spot, reaching US$10.8 billion, a 52% increase from US$7.1 billion in 2023, with credit deal volume surging by 256% to 310 deals (up from 87 in 2023). Start-up investments followed closely, totalling US$10 billion across 645 deals, a 13% increase from US$8.9 billion across 477 deals in 2023. Lastly, PIPE investments recorded US$5 billion across 157 deals, a significant 40% decline compared to US$8.4 billion across 111 deals in 2023.
In 2024, PE/VC activity exhibited concentration across five to six sectors, with infrastructure, financial services, real estate, e-commerce, technology, and life sciences collectively accounting for 80% of total PE/VC investments by value and 66% by deal volume. Each of these sectors saw more than 100 deals during the year, compared to just two sectors reaching this milestone in 2023. Like last year, 2024 also witnessed 12 sectors receiving over US$1 billion in investments.
Infrastructure led the sector, attracting US$12.1 billion in investment, slightly down from US$13 billion in 2023, accounting for 22% of overall investments during the year. Financial services climbed one spot to second place, recording US$9.0 billion, a 41% year-on-year growth. Real estate secured third place, with US$8.8 billion, a slight growth of 3%. Among other traditionally PE/VC friendly sectors, technology saw a notable 56% growth, reaching US$6 billion, while e-commerce surged by 87%, totalling US$4.6 billion. However, the life sciences sector experienced a 31% decline, with investments falling from US$6.2 billion in 2023 to US$4.3 billion in 2024.
Exits
In 2024, exits worth US$26.7 billion were recorded, higher by 7% compared to 2023 (US$24.9 billion), and 46% higher compared to 2022 (US$18.3 billion). In terms of volume, exits in 2024 were the second highest ever, but saw a 7% decline compared to 2023 (282 deals in 2024 vs. 304 deals in 2023).
Open market exits remained dominant and recorded the highest ever exit value worth US$12.9 billion - marginally higher compared to the previous year (US$12.8 billion in 2023).
In 2024, PE-backed IPOs recorded the highest growth of 130% year-on-year in terms of value (US$3.3 billion in 2024 vs. US$1.4 billion in 2023) and were 33% higher in terms of number of deals, compared to the previous year. It was the only exit segment to grow in terms of volume in 2024 (40 deals in 2024 vs. 30 deals in 2023). Value of strategic exits and secondary exits grew by 5% (US$3.7 billion in 2024 vs. US$3.5 billion in 2023) and 1% (US$6.7 million in 2024 vs. US$6.6 billion in 2023), respectively.
The largest exit in 2024 saw Mankind Pharma acquire Bharat Serums and Vaccines from Advent International for US$1.6 billion. PE/VC exit activity was predominantly concentrated in the financial services, technology, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, healthcare, real estate, retail and consumer products, and industrial products sectors, each recording exits exceeding US$1 billion. The financial services sector saw exits worth US$5.9 billion across 68 deals; a 20% decline compared to 2023 (US$7.4 billion across 80 deals). This was followed by exits in the technology sector totalling US$4 billion across 27 deals, a 53% growth compared to 2023 (US$2.6 billion across 23 deals). E-commerce sector recorded exits worth US$2.7 billion across 30 deals, a 4% decline compared to 2023 (US$2.9 billion across 35 deals).
Fundraise
In 2024, fundraising saw a notable decline of 34%, with US$10.4 billion raised across 95 funds compared to US$15.9 billion raised across 102 funds in 2023, and a 40% drop compared to US$17.4 billion raised across 99 funds in 2022. After a period of significant growth in 2022, fundraising has followed a downward trend.
Despite this overall decline, two funds raised over a billion dollars in 2024.The largest of these was Kedaara Capital which closed its US$1.73 billion fund, Kedaara IV, the largest fund raised by an Indian private equity firm. Around 85% of Kedaara's new fund was raised from existing backers, including three of the largest Canadian pension funds—CPPIB, CDPQ, and OTPP.