Private Equity - Geographic Distribution (Europe)
We ran a similar study but this time looking at the geographic distribution of private equity firms and their portfolio companies for European countries.
The majority of private equity firms are concentrated in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Not surprisingly, these three countries also host the greatest number of portfolio companies (although France and Germany switch order). This would stand to reason given that these countries have the largest economies in Europe.
In fact, while the order is a bit re-arranged, the same top 10 European countries with private equity firms are also the same 10 countries with the largest number of portfolio companies.
Private Equity Firms |
Portfolio Companies |
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| Country | % of total | Country | % of total | 2007 GDP (millions USD) |
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| 1 | United Kingdom | 31.1% | 1 | United Kingdom | 25.6% | 2,804,437 | ||
| 2 | Germany | 12.7% | 2 | France | 14.8% | 2,593,779 | ||
| 3 | France | 12.2% | 3 | Germany | 11.9% | 3,320,913 | ||
| 4 | Spain | 5.7% | 4 | Netherlands | 7.1% | 777,241 | ||
| 5 | Sweden | 5.7% | 5 | Sweden | 6.6% | 454,839 | ||
| 6 | Italy | 4.9% | 6 | Finland | 5.5% | 246,350 | ||
| 7 | Netherlands | 4.6% | 7 | Italy | 4.5% | 2,104,666 | ||
| 8 | Belgium | 4.3% | 8 | Spain | 4.3% | 1,439,983 | ||
| 9 | Finland | 3.8% | 9 | Belgium | 3.9% | 453,283 | ||
| 10 | Norway | 3.0% | 10 | Norway | 2.7% | 389,457 | ||
What is perhaps more interesting is to compare this these results with the ranking of the countries by GDP (see table below). Noticeable standouts are Finland and Norway, whose private equity influence is unusually high relative to their GDP rank within the EU countries.
Portfolio Companies |
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| Country | % of total | 2007 GDP (millions USD) |
GDP Rank | |||
| 1 | United Kingdom | 25.6% | 2,804,437 | 2 | ||
| 2 | France | 14.8% | 2,593,779 | 3 | ||
| 3 | Germany | 11.9% | 3,320,913 | 1 | ||
| 4 | Netherlands | 7.1% | 777,241 | 6 | ||
| 5 | Sweden | 6.6% | 454,839 | 8 | ||
| 6 | Finland | 5.5% | 246,350 | 17 | ||
| 7 | Italy | 4.5% | 2,104,666 | 4 | ||
| 8 | Spain | 4.3% | 1,439,983 | 5 | ||
| 9 | Belgium | 3.9% | 453,283 | 9 | ||
| 10 | Norway | 2.7% | 389,457 | 12 | ||
Sample Size: 370 private equity firms, 4,600+ portfolio companies