German market largest in continental Europe

In continental Europe Germany is the most active market in terms of its number of buyouts and the value of the market according to the latest half year report from the Nottingham-based Centre for Management Buy-out Research (CMBOR).

With 67 buyouts Germany claimed the most active market, with France following close behind with 66 and the Netherlands trailing with just 40. In terms of value, the German market also came out on top, with the combined value of deals totaling €6.5bn, followed by Italy with €4.2bn and France with €3.1bn.

Although, the report revealed that Germany has come out on top, in comparison to the previous year’s statistics all country markets have been much less active. In the same period in 2007, Germany had a135 buyouts, which means the largest market in CE has more than halved in 2008.

The value in Europe also fell to €38.3bn for the first half of 2008 which is just over a third of what it was in the same period last year (€99.6bn).