French buyout volume and value drop by over 50%

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France is lagging significantly behind the UK by about 50% in the value and volume of deals so far this year. Although deal volume is second in Europe, Germany's buyout deal value is slightly higher than France's.

If we compare France's current performance to the previous year for the same period we may observe that while this year France has seen 21 buyout deals valued at EUR2.4bn, last years figured showed 54 deals completed worth EUR6.9bn. The effects of the credit crunch have been felt by the French buyout market this year which has dropped by over half in volume and value since the previous year. The market conditions have made the large buyout deals a seemingly rarer phenomenon which has dramatically reduced the value of deals in 2008 thus far.

There was a slight increase in deal volume this month, but the cautious approach to buyouts by investors will continue to result in inferior buyout volume and value in France compared to 2007. This could however be an important realignment after last years excess.