Private equity market expected to fare worse than last year

Private equity investments fell significantly last year, with 2010 expected to perform worse than 2009, when private equity funds invested 221 million euros in Romania.

“The level of private equity investments in the first nine months of 2010 is lower than that recorded in the similar period of last year, and it is not certain that the last quarter will be as good as the last quarter of 2009, which saw record amounts invested,” says Irina Anghel, secretary general of the South Eastern Europe Private Equity Association (SEEPEA), which comprises the biggest private equity funds on the Romanian market.
Romanian companies were among the most attractive in Central and Eastern Europe prior to the onset of the financial crisis, managing to attract record investments from private equity funds thanks to their fast growth pace. In peak year 2007, local companies attracted investments of half a billion euros from investment funds. However, the last two years saw private equity investments contract significantly.