| Headline: After the fall Source: Euromoney Date: July 2001 Author: Jennifer Morris European private-equity firms escaped the full effects of the tech collapse that hit their US peers so hard last year. But they could hardly escape the atmosphere of panic and have trimmed their sails, avoiding riskier start-up-style ventures and giving more attention to buy-outs and blue-chip companies’ disposals of non-core businesses.
Encouraged by the phenomenal returns, investors piled in to private equity. During 2000, e48 billion ($41 billion) was raised in Europe according to the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA), a 89% increase on the previous year. Throughout 1999 and early 2000, funds were being raised in shorter and shorter time frames. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||