Indian entrepreneurs sign deals like housewives
Friday, 05 February 2010, 00:02 IST   |    48 Comments
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Indian entrepreneurs sign deals like housewives
Bangalore:Experts feel that Indian entrepreneurs are like housewives when it comes to signing deals. Whether it is the price of an onion or the price of a firm, they wait for the best possible deal, while for an outsider it seems like a waste of time believes an expert panel at APEX 2010 Private Equity and Venture Capital Summit. Though there is an imbalance between the demand and supply for deals, experts feel that Indian entrepreneurs have now become increasingly greedy, writes Eric Bellman in a blog post on Wall Street Journal. "Again, the greed factor has set it," said Ajay Mittal, Director of private equity at Ascent Capital. "But valuations based on the secondary market will not find too many takers." India's stock market is the reason for the high expectations among Indian entrepreneurs despite a fall in private equity and venture capital money. Last year, the Sensex came back strong and companies are expecting similar high valuations for their unlisted companies. Since 2007, the pool of money for startups in India has been decreasing, but there are signs that 2010 could at last see some new money in new areas. Things have changed from only two years ago when money came easy and information technology companies serving the developed world dominated discussion. Today private equity and venture capital backers are looking for smaller, smarter deals. They are also focused on opportunities in India rather than the West which is still struggling with a hangover from the debt crises. "IT used to account for a lion's share of the pie but we have seen that go down significantly," said Arun Natarajan, chief executive of Venture Intelligence the Chennai-based private equity data company which has put on the summit for five years. "Investment is instead moving towards a consumer-oriented service and largely domestic plays rather than export-dependent services."

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