Private Equity Parties Hearty in India

Private equity firms from the U.S. have been sniffing around India seriously for over a decade now. But in the past year, the private equity investor has been working overtime. In the country's five-star hotels, top restaurants, and airport VIP lounges, dealmakers in dark suits are omnipresent, carrying stacks of papers and looking for investments in everything from banking and financial services to real estate, health care. technology, and media.

What's bringing them to India is a combination of the country's rising consumerism, impressive growth in gross domestic product, and a hot stock market. Now private equity deals are hitting record levels: $10.8 billion in the eight months of 2007, way above the $7.8 billion invested in all of 2006, according to Grant Thornton International, one of India's oldest accounting firms. Money is pouring into companies on the growth curve, those that are about to gain access to the capital markets, and even listed companies looking to expand.