Private equity investments as well as merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the country have witnessed consistent growth so far this year, as deals worth over $52 billion have been announced in this space. According to data compiled by research firm VCCEdge, the total private equity investments till September this year stood at $7.18 billion, while M&A activity for the first three quarters of 2010 reached at $45.1 billion. In the month of September the total M&A deal value amounted to $11.7 billion. Though the M&A activity in September noticed a drop on a quarter-on-quarter basis, but has quadrupled from last year’s level, the report said. The most active sectors in terms of deal value was energy, which saw deals worth $4.6 billion, followed by healthcare ($1.8 billion) and industrials ($1.7 billion), and materials ($1.6 billion). […]