UNQUOTE

Stealing the spotlight

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One would be forgiven for thinking Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is stealing the spotlight from the DACH region. Last August a Polish cable operator, Aster, was able to pull off a EUR415m recapitalisation despite the fact the rest of Europe was suffering the onset of a global credit crunch. This was backed by a prolific CEE GP, Mid Europa Partners. Now, as the DACH market continues its slow but steady pace of deals, mostly in the small- and mid-cap segments, CEE again makes headlines, this time with the $3.25bn buyout of Migros Turk by BC Partners in Turkey (see page 44)

This is nothing new. Outfits in the West have long been looking east for opportunities, with Austrian banks taking the lead in that push in the mid 1990s. More recently a handful of GPs have cast their eyes eastward (see feature, page 14).

While Germany's strong economic situation stands in sharp contrast with the rest of Europe for the second year running, many expect that the growth cannot continue. The ever-stronger euro, the inevitable US recession and a weakening of the stock markets pose strong arguments against Germany's continued robustness. Should things take a turn for the worse, Germany too may look east.

Bolstered by huge government investments in infrastructure and improving legal frameworks, the east is slowly inching closer to the spotlight and may come to claim it more permanently.

Yours sincerely,

Mareen Goebel

Editor, Deutsche unquote"

Tel: +44 20 7004 7462

mareen.goebel@incisivemedia.com.

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