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M&A Review

The European mergers and acquisitions market is down yet again on last year and has plunged to levels not seen since 1997. However, as this month's M&A Review from Dealogic finds, private equity firms are causing a stir as they begin to bid more aggressively for M&A transactions, often putting targets beyond the reach of trade buyers.

So far this year, 13 per cent of European M&A volume has involved a private equity acquirer, compared with five per cent in 1999 and 2000. The average transaction value for M&A activity this year stands at $117m, hitting a peak of $281m in June. The mountain of cash waiting to be drawn down by private equity firms suggests this figure is set to rise.

Copyright © 2002 Dealogic

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Dealogic is the new corporate brand name unifying the global resources of CommScan, Computasoft Syndication, Computasoft Research and the Euromoney joint ventures Capital Data and Capital Net. Dealogic provides global coverage of corporate finance activity and global deal management systems. For more information please vist www.dealogic.com