AFIC announces first half figures for private equity investment in France

01 October 2001

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

AFIC, the French venture capital association, has announced the results of its survey of private equity investment in France over the first half of 2001. Of its 170 members, two-thirds responded to a questionnaire which was sent out over the summer. According to the data collected, while there is more money available for investment in France, there are fewer deals being done, suggesting a level of prudence amongst the countryÂ’s leading players. While the capital raised from French institutions for investment in France rose by 25% to Euro 1.95bn in the first half of 2001 compared with the same period in 2000, investment fell by 41% to Euro 1.2bn, with first-round investments representing 57% of the total, which is a small fall from 61% last year, suggesting that companies seeking financing for the first time are still relatively popular choices for investors. Capital raised from other European institutions by French venture capital players for investment in France fell by 20% to Euro 468, while funds raised from global players for investment in France saw the greatest fall, from Euro 542m in the first half of 2000 to Euro 195m in the first half of 2001.

In terms of the deals that completed, almost 25% were early-stage transactions, 35% were development capital deals, 41% were leveraged buyouts, and there was a fall in value of the deals across all stages. The value of development capital deal was down by 47% to Euro 425m, while the value of buyouts fell by 41% to Euro 486m. The value of the exit market also dropped, but less noticeably, falling from Euro 842m to Euro 792m, which, in the context of the poorly-performing stock markets, can be seen as relatively encouraging.

AFIC also comments that despite these falls, France has fared better than other markets in recent months, especially America, and that early-stage investment performed far better than had been expected.