 Private equity firm Permira agreed to buy Birds Eye in August 2006 |
Buyouts of firms such as UK fish finger maker Birds Eye drove the value of European private equity-backed deals to record levels last year, a survey says. European private equity deals reached a total value of 178bn euros ($231bn, �118bn), up 41% on 2005, according to buyout specialist Candover.
Transactions with a value of more than 1bn euros contributed to nearly 70% of the market in final quarter of 2006.
The largest buyout was the 8.3bn euro takeover of Philips Semiconductors.
'Remarkable' year
The biggest deals in the UK last year were the 2.6bn euro acquisition of Birds Eye and the 2.3bn euro takeover of Jaffa Cake-maker United Biscuits.
The purchase of Pizza Express and ASK restaurant owner Gondola Holdings for more than 1.3bn euros was the UK's third-biggest deal.
"This has been another remarkable 12 months for private equity, with more and more large scale buyouts driving the growth." said Colin Buffin, managing director of Candover.
He predicted that private equity would continue to thrive in 2007.
"We are seeing a strong deal pipeline across Europe which gives us confidence."
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
