PRINT THIS PAGE US private equity firms help drive appetite for European technology companies31/08/2004. Source: AltAssets. 
 US private equity firms and strategic investors are increasingly looking to invest in the European technology sector, according to research by Close Brothers Corporate Finance.
The number of European technology deals in the first half of 2004 increased by 60 per cent on the same period last year, fuelled largely by a strong increase in the number of US acquirers despite the weakness of the dollar. US investors doubled their share of mergers and acquisitions in the sector to 35 per cent.
'The US is the first economy to feel an uptake in trading conditions and investor and management sentiment,' Simon Willis, a director at Close Brothers told the Financial Times. 'They are feeling expansive and confident at a time when the UK and Europe are still finding things a bit tough.'
'The US economy generally, and the technology market in particular, tends to be at least six months ahead of the UK, which is in turn six months ahead of Europe,' Willis added.
Of the 13 European technology deals worth more than E100m in the first half of 2004, nine went to US buyers. The largest transaction was Hewlett-Packard's E340m acquisition of Triaton, the IT services division of Germany's Thyssen Krupp.
Copyright © 2004 AltAssets
|
