Q1 Barometer: primary buyouts stand out

Both secondary buyouts and deals sourced from family or private owners hit significant statistical milestones not breached for two years: the former dropped 38% in Q1 to hit their lowest total since the corresponding period in 2012; the latter rose 43% to their highest total over the same period.

This trend emerged in one of the worst quarters of recent years in terms of overall private equity dealflow, though. Across all deal types, there were 308 transactions recorded for all of Europe in Q1, a fall of 16% on the 366 recorded in Q4 2013. This substantial downward movement marks a five-year nadir in European private equity numbers.

However, compared with other types of deals, the volume of European buyouts offered some level of positivity for Q1 results. There were 107 buyouts recorded throughout Europe in Q1, which represents a decrease of 10% compared with both of the two preceding quarters.

In terms of value, the first three months to March saw deals worth €16.6bn, representing a 31% fall on Q4's figures, but an increase of almost 50% compared with the same period in 2013.

In the growth capital segment, which was the strongest performer in terms of volume, transaction numbers fell by only 7%. And in terms of value, growth capital deals were up by 30% compared with Q4 2013.

Early-stage deals witnessed a tough start to the year with deal volume plummeting by more than 50% from 64 to 30 in Q1. The last time so few deals were recorded was in Q4 2005.

Click here to read the full unquote" Private Equity Barometer, published in association with SL Capital.

All data is sourced from unquote" data, the unquote" proprietary database. To conduct your own searches on pan-European private equity trends, visit unquotedata.com

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