Half of India’s PE Market Is Now Buyouts

In 2024, buyouts accounted for 51% of India’s private equity deal value, a dramatic shift from the 37% mark just two years ago. This wasn’t just about large deals either. The majority of buyouts in 2024, nearly 68%, were in the sub-$250M range, underscoring a structural shift toward mid-market control.

What’s driving the trend?

Control deals allow funds to create operational value at a time when financial engineering has fewer levers left. With public markets trading at elevated levels, private equity sponsors are finding that the only way to justify entry valuations is to drive upside through efficiency, platform expansion, and exits on their own timelines.

Funds like EQT, TPG, and KKR were active buyers in 2024. Sectorally, the biggest buyouts were in IT (Perficient, Altimetrik), healthcare (Healthium, Appasamy), and infrastructure (ATC).

These transactions reflect a deliberate portfolio design strategy. Sponsors are targeting sectors where India offers both fragmentation and formalization, making it possible to acquire, integrate, and scale within a defined thesis.

In healthcare, this includes diagnostics and medtech, where cost advantages and exports intersect. In IT, buyers are doubling down on revenue cycle management and B2B tech services with proven offshoring economics. And in infrastructure, the rise of tower, data center, and clean energy platforms has created a long pipeline of control-ready assets.

In fact, platform creation has become a hallmark of recent buyout activity. Several funds are stitching together regional players or specialty operators to build national-scale businesses. From oncology clinics to logistics warehousing and digital KYC stack providers, the opportunity lies in creating unified platforms from disparate, under-scaled assets.

Institutional preference for buyouts

This is not a temporary shift. LPs are rewarding GPs who control their outcomes and penalizing those relying on passive growth. According to Bain’s survey, 56% of Indian GPs say LPs are now demanding stronger performance track records as a precondition for re-ups or new commitments.

Control-oriented strategies offer clearer attribution, more room for value creation, and better downside protection in volatile macro environments. They also allow funds to manage their timing better, scaling up businesses during holding periods and exiting across IPO, strategic, or secondary routes when conditions are favorable.

Bain notes that several GPs are explicitly shifting to control-led fund mandates in India, supported by LPs that prefer outcome clarity over headline momentum. This is particularly true for global institutions deploying larger ticket sizes, who want assurance on governance, board control, and operating levers.

Why Mid-Market Control Makes Sense in India

India’s mid-market offers a unique intersection of scale and fragmentation. Many founder-led businesses in sectors like healthcare services, financial inclusion, and digital infrastructure have achieved meaningful revenue traction, yet remain underinstitutionalized. These companies are increasingly open to handing over control in exchange for growth capital, professionalization, and exit pathways.

Buyout strategies in India also benefit from a growing supply of secondary opportunities – platforms built by first-round GPs or family offices that are now ready for the next stage of capital and operational sophistication. With a rising number of $25M-$100M enterprise value businesses seeking scale partners, the control playbook is expanding beyond just headline megadeals.

This is especially evident in verticalized models: mother-and-child hospitals, fintech infrastructure providers, B2B SaaS exporters, and even last-mile logistics players. These businesses are often profitable, under-managed, and deeply familiar with local distribution challenges but need institutional support to systematize growth.

Mid-market buyouts are also more executable. They often have less shareholder complexity and allow faster integration. For many GPs, this segment offers the perfect balance of complexity and control – big enough to matter, small enough to move.

What’s more, Indian entrepreneurs are increasingly viewing buyouts not as giving up, but as unlocking long-term value. Many remain involved post-transaction, either as operating partners or board advisors, creating hybrid models of succession and continuity.

Another emerging trend is the institutionalization of founder-led companies post-buyout. Beyond board-level changes, GPs are investing in CFO-level talent, building in-house tech capabilities, and creating standardized operating dashboards across portfolio companies. These moves are helping bring consistency to performance tracking and enabling better oversight, particularly in multi-asset platforms.

India also offers a unique cost-value advantage for buyouts compared to global peers. Labor cost arbitrage, domestic consumption, and regulatory reforms (such as faster incorporation timelines and streamlined FDI pathways) make it easier to execute control strategies at scale. For global LPs looking to diversify from China, India’s buyout market offers a blend of economic momentum and institutional readiness.

Looking ahead

India’s buyout landscape is poised for further evolution. The bar for ownership is rising, not just in terms of equity, but also in the operational control and governance required to shape outcomes. As continuation funds gain traction and secondaries unlock liquidity, mid-market platforms that were once difficult to exit may now find a more robust market.

At the same time, local GP capability is improving. Indian fund managers are building operating teams, adopting platform strategies, and using sector operators to professionalize acquired companies. This rising execution capacity makes India one of the few emerging markets where true control investing is now scalable.

For LPs, control strategies offer clearer attribution, better downside protection, and increasingly, a path to participate directly. In a region where public market windows can be narrow and growth-only stories volatile, buyouts offer a steady, repeatable path to value creation, and India is becoming one of the most dynamic markets globally for this strategy.

Pair this with The Maturity Premium, From Bet to Buyout, and The New Gold Standard to grasp how buyouts are evolving.

Source:

Bain & Company. India Private Equity Report 2025

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What share of India’s PE market did buyouts account for in 2024?
A: Buyouts made up 51% of India’s private equity deal value in 2024, up from 37% in 2022.
Q: Why are buyouts gaining popularity in India’s PE market?
A: Control deals offer operational value creation, better timing flexibility, and stronger governance—factors increasingly favored by LPs and GPs alike.
Q: Are mid-market buyouts becoming more common?
A: Yes. 68% of buyouts in 2024 were under $250M, reflecting a move toward scalable, mid-sized platform strategies.
Q: What sectors are driving buyout activity in India?
A: Key sectors include IT/ITeS, healthcare, infrastructure, and digital services—where fragmentation allows for platform creation.
Q: How are LP preferences shaping buyout strategies?
A: LPs now favor GPs with control mandates, clearer attribution models, and operating leverage—especially in volatile macro environments.

Udita Sharma
Udita Sharma
Investment Engagement Manager
Helped 500+ investors build
their investment thesis.

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