IDBI-Fairfax mega deal takes PE-VC investments to $8 billion in October

Private Equity-Venture Capital (PE-VC) investments surged to over $8 billion across 106 deals in October led by the $5.6 billion equity investment in IDBI Bank by Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings.

The mega deal helped October 2026 record the highest monthly investment level in over four years surpassing last month’s high of $6.1 billion across 125 deals, as per data from market research firm Venture Intelligence.

On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, investments went up nearly 50 per cent from $5.5 billion across 136 deals in October 2025.

Out of the total investments, mega deals (over $100 million) accounted for $7 billion across 5 deals. Other major mega deals during the month included global investment firm KKR’s $632 million investment in Gentari, the Indian renewable energy arm of Malaysia’s state-owned PETRONAS and Brookfield’s $450 million acquisition of ESR India’s operating logistics and industrial portfolio.

Arun Natarajan, Founder, Venture Intelligence said that the IDBI Fairfax deal was the largest private equity investment in India since 2020. “While the mega deal majorly boosted October investment figures, the month also saw continued focus on infrastructure sectors, especially by large private equity investors,” he added.

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A significant spike in PE-VC activity over August, September and October after a tepid start to the year has helped investments reach $39.7 billion across 1,171 deals in 2026 (YTD), already surpassing the $39 billion across 1,425 deals in the whole of 2025.

Investments in early-stage companies increased to $377 million in October 2026 from $304 million in October 2025. Growth-stage investments halved to $584 million as against $1 billion. Late-stage also saw a similar decline to $240 million in October 2026 from $1.4 billion in same month last year.

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