By any yardstick, private equity has achieved a remarkable rise to prominence in European business, not just as active acquirers but as managers of ever-growing chunks of major developed economies.
Consider just a few eye-catching statistics. The European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association last month published figures showing that members’ fund-raising increased from €27.5bn (£19bn) in 2004 to €71.8bn (£50bn) in 2005, while the total raised for buy-outs trebled during the same period to €57.7bn (£40bn). And nowhere has private equity been in a more healthy state than in the UK, which was the single largest source of capital for the industry, contributing 28.9%.
