Private Equity and Venture Capital in Europe

19.2. European Background

European Union GDP was quite strong in 2007, but 2008 results and 2009 expectation are not positive. In this context and despite global financial crises, European private equity remained strong as reflected by the new record investment amount (even in 2007) and attractive to investors as reflected by the fundraising flows in 2008. Today, the key figures of European private equity are

1. Three countries generated more than the 70% of the deals in 2007 and 2008 (i.e., the UK, France, and Germany)
2. The UK covered more than the 50% of the fundraising amount in 2007 and 2008
3. Thirteen general partners raised more than €1 billion in new fund closings in 2007 alone, thus hosting 50% of the 2007 fundraising
4. One-fifth of the ...