EVCA Research Statistics - Investments
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Private Equity Investment refers to the financing of unquoted companies with growth potential. Private Equity comprises all stages of financing: seed, start-up, expansion, replacement capital and buyouts. Venture capital is limited to the growth stages of a company, i.e. seed, start-up and expansion capital.
Annual Survey 2009 14 June 2010
These figures represent annual investment activity undertaken by private equity and venture capital management companies located in Europe.
Statistics by country of private equity firm – Industry statistics
- Investments by European private equity firms reached €23bn in 2009, representing a 57% drop compared to 2008.
- The number of companies financed decreased slightly (-17%) to 5,046 companies in 2009. This indicates smaller average sizes of investment per company, decreasing from €9m in 2008 to €5m in 2009.
- Buyouts represented 53% of the total amount invested, although the number of companies financed through a buyout represented just 12% of all companies financed. Companies in the venture stages, mainly early-stage, attracted most of the investments.
- While the amount invested in later-stage halved, early-stage investment fell by 24% compared to 2008.
- Small buyouts accounted for 78% of the number of companies financed through a buyout, whereas it only added up to €2.3bn or 19% of the total amount invested in buyouts (average investment per company: €4.8m).
- Mid-market deals attracted the highest amount with €6.3bn (50% of the total) in 127 companies (average investment per company: €49m).
- Large buyouts amounted to €2.1bn (17% of the total buyout amount) in 9 companies (average investment per company: €234m).
- Mega buyouts attracted €1.8bn for 4 companies in 2009, indicating an average investment size per company of €438m.
- The top three industry sectors invested in were life sciences with €3.6bn (15%), followed by communications with €3bn (13%) and consumer goods & retail with €3bn (13%).
Statistics by country of portfolio company – Market statistics
- Investments into European companies reached €23bn in 2009, of which 98% came from European private equity firms.
- The top five countries in 2009 were: the United Kingdom (19.6%), France (13.1%) Germany (11.4%), Italy (6.6%) and Belgium (4.8%).
- Buyout and growth deals added up to 83% of the total investment value, venture capital deals accounting for the remainder.
- Small buyouts accounted for 78% of the number of companies financed through a buyout, whereas it only added up to €2.4bn or 20% of the total amount invested in buyouts (average investment per company: €5m).
- Mid-market deals attracted the highest amount with €6bn (51% of the total) in 121 companies (average investment per company: €50m).
- Large buyouts amounted to €2.1bn (18% of the total buyout amount) in 9 companies (average investment per company: €234m).
- Mega buyouts amounted to €1.4bn invested in 3 companies in 2009, indicating an average investment size per company of €472m.
- The sectoral distribution of venture capital and buyout investments differs strongly.
- Venture capital was mainly driven by investments in the life sciences sector (28% of the total by amount, and 21% by number of companies).
- By amount, consumer goods & retail was the most invested sector in the buyout & growth segment, 15% of the total, while business & industrial products came first by number of companies with 19% of the total.
Charts
Source
These figures are extracted from the EVCA Annual Survey of Pan-European Private Equity & Venture Capital Activity 2009 contained within the EVCA Yearbook 2010, which also includes an editorial section giving accounts of the industry today and providing a valuable illustration to the statistics.
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