Change and survival

Deals arranged before the summer are still completing in Spain and Italy, albeit behind schedule. Some of them have even been fortunate enough to benefit from ephemeral instruments such as portable financing (see Deal in Focus, page 28). Nowadays, there is a considerable amount of self-praise from GPs for every deal closed - when 3i acquired gardening business GGP from ABN AMRO Capital, it was said that a "good dose of courage and creativity" was key to a successful acquisition.