Last year was another good year for Austrian private equity, according to recent figures released from AVCO, the Austrian private equity and venture capital association. Fundraising in the region reached a peak in 2005 at €217m compared to €122m in 2004. A total of €243m in 172 transactions was invested in 2005, up from €141m in 2004.
Allocation of these investments differed slightly with a greater proportion allocated to start-up (€28m in 2005 compared to €16m in 2004.) Expansion capital continued to account for the lion’s share of investment with €77m, although this was down on the previous year’s €105m figure. Buyout investment remained static at €18m and replacement capital witnessed a revival up from no deals to €20m.
By sector, computer-related deals accounted for the majority of investment with €24.8m, although this was down on 2004’s figure of €30.2m. Industrial products and services followed with €14.6m, up considerably from the previous year’s figure of €3.9m. Both the communications and chemicals and materials sectors also fared better in 2005 with investments reaching a total of €12.9m and €10.3m, respectively, compared to €3.7m and €0.3m the previous year. The biotechnology and manufacturing sectors didn’t fare so well down from peaks of €21.2m and €20.4m, respectively, in 2004 to €5.6m and €7.8m in 2005.