The value of European private equity deals in the first quarter of 2010 reached EUR10.5bn, a modest rise of 2.6 per cent from EUR10.3bn in the last quarter of 2009, but significantly above the EUR4bn of deals recorded in the Q1 2009.
In terms of volumes, the number of private equity-backed deals fell slightly to 226 in Q1 2010 from 235 deals in Q4 2009, according to the preliminary figures in the Q1 2010 unquote barometer published by Incisive Media and sponsored by Candover.
However, this is an improvement compared with the 217 deals re-corded during the same period last year.
The volume of deals revealed a decline of close to 12 per cent from 78 deals in Q4 2009 to 69 in Q1 2010, ending three consecutive quarters of growth.
The total value of buyouts during the first quarter of 2010 was EUR9.2bn, a similar level to each of Q3 and Q4 2009, but significantly stronger than Q1 2009, when buyouts with a value of EUR1.9bn were recorded.
Q1 2010 saw a surge in the mid-market value range, deals worth between EUR100m and EUR1bn. Of the EUR9.2bn of buyouts recorded, EUR6.6bn was in the mid-market, almost double the EUR3.6bn recorded in the previous quarter. Of the top 20 buyouts during the quarter, 18 were mid-market transactions.
There was only one transaction above EUR1bn during the quarter: KKR’s EUR1.1bn secondary buy-out of pet retail chain Pets at Home from Bridgepoint.
The UK remained the most active region overall, accounting for more than half of the total value at EUR4.7bn, an increase of 46 per cent over Q4 2009. It also recorded a 20 per cent rise in volume from 25 deals in Q4 2009 to 30 in Q1 2010, with 11 of the 18 EUR100m+ buyouts occurring in the country.
France recorded a significant rise in value terms over the three months, from EUR747m to EUR1.9bn, while Germany saw the value of its deals plunge from EUR3.7bn to just EUR390m.
John Arney (pictured), managing partner of Candover, says: “The positive indicators and sentiment in the broader European economy are being echoed in the pri-vate equity sector. The key ingredients are in place for an increase in the pace of private equity reali-sations and new investments – most managers have funds which they are eager to put to work and for many businesses the trading outlook is more encouraging than at any point in the previous two years.”
