What private equity investments are being made in Europe, who is investing and how are they doing?

Abstract

European private equity and venture capital investment and fund-raising reached record levels in 2000. The high returns in the industry, outperforming the stockmarkets, encouraged greater flows to private equity funds from the pension funds and other institutions. Technology investments predominated. Drawing from a world overview of the private equity market and the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association survey, the paper investigates the European scene and the prospects for private equity and venture capital in 2001, concluding that with a significant decline in investments, venture capitalists are exercising a cautious and selective approach in their investment decisions.