25/07/08
Q2 2008 Barometer
Total value of European private equity backed transactions climbs up 15% from previous quarter to reach €30bn in Q2 2008, but down 53% compared to H1 2007.
Renewed signs of life in the large buyout market with three deals worth €7.8 billion in Q2, an increase of 57% on Q1 large buyouts
Preliminary figures released today in the Q2 2008 Unquote Barometer* (published by Incisive Media and sponsored by Candover**, a leading European private equity house)
European Private Equity
- The value of European private equity backed transactions climbed to €30bn in Q2, up 15% from the €26bn reported in the previous quarter. Volumes increased by 9% to 390 deals compared to 358 in Q1
- But compared to 2007, private equity transactions remain substantially down, with the YTD figures revealing that the first six months of the year are 9% down in terms of volume with 748 deals against 823, while value has dropped by more than 53% from €121bn to less than €57bn
Buyouts
- Q2 has remained level with Q1, with values recorded around the €24bn mark
- However, YTD values for buyouts are down by more than 58% compared to YTD 2007 - €48bn compared to €115bn
- There were 173 buyouts completed in Q2 2008, up from 160 in Q1
- The UK continued to outperform other regions in Europe, accounting for more than 36% of the overall total with 63 deals, up from 31% in Q1. The value figure has dropped by around 28% from €11.1bn in Q1 to €8.0bn in Q2, underlining the continuing difficulties caused by the lack of leverage available at the top of the market
- Across other European regions, the Nordic region saw volume drop by 40% from 25 deals to 15 from Q1 to Q2, while value more than doubled from €2.3bn to €5.2bn. The German market, on the other hand, despite recording a slight increase in volume terms from 28 transactions to 32, saw overall value drop by 36% from €4.4bn to less than €2.9bn from Q1 to Q2
- The trend towards the small-cap end of the market has continued over the quarter (deals worth less than €160m). This segment has seen significant increases in terms of both volume and value of 14% and 17% to 143 and €6bn respectively from Q1 to Q2
- The mid-market segment (deals worth between €160m and €1.65bn) has conversely seen declines over the quarter, with volume dropping by 18% to 27 and value dropping by approximately 28% to €10bn from Q1 to Q2
- The largest value bracket (deals worth in excess of €1.65bn) has seen a significant improvement – up 57% from Q1 to Q2 - with three deals worth €7.8bn completing. The largest of these was the €2.3bn buyout of Expro, led by Candover
Commenting on the latest figures, Colin Buffin, Managing Director of Candover, said:
“After a five month barren period between October and February, there have now been five large buyouts completed in the last four months, showing that there are reasons to remain optimistic going into the second half of the year.
Market conditions for buyouts remain difficult but the private equity market has proved its resilience in a downturn.”
Ends.
*Figures for Q2 2008 should be considered preliminary and are likely to increase as further deals come to light over the coming weeks.
**Candover means Candover Investments plc and / or one or more of its subsidiaries, including Candover Partners Limited as General Partner of the Candover 1997 and 2001 Funds and as Manager of the Candover 2005 Fund.