PRINT THIS PAGE 3i report foresees increase in global private equity activity this year30/10/2003. Source: AltAssets. 
 Global private equity investment activity in 2003 is on course to record an annual increase for the first time in two years, according to preliminary figures from 3i and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. A total of $57bn was invested the first half of the year, over half the $102bn invested in 2002 as a whole and the $103bn invested in 2001.
The investment levels remain a long way off the peak of $206bn in 2000 but appear to have stabilised, most importantly in the shell-shocked venture sector. The collapse of early stage investment has been the main feature of the last couple of years, only slightly moderately by an increase in buy-out investment.
Tracy Lefteroff, PwC global managing partner for private equity, said: ‘It may well be that 2003 is the watershed year, marking the return to relative stability in global private equity investing. Over the past two years, the sharp decline in the venture capital component has been mitigated by a shift towards buy-outs and other private equity financing.
‘Now that erosion appears to be subsiding and venture capital, especially in the US, is settling down to a natural level that is both substantial and sustainable, there is cause for optimism which in turn creates opportunity,' she said.
The report also revealed shifts in global investment patterns over the last few years based on the compound annual growth in each market between 1998 and 2002. The fastest growing region was India, with a CAGR of 82 per cent, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and South Korea.
Other strong performers included France, Italy, and Spain. The US suffered a one per cent fall and the UK and Germany managed growth of just five per cent and two per cent respectively.
The US remains the largest market by a long way, with $62.7bn invested in 2002, followed at some distance by the UK with investment totalling $9.6bn. France was third with $5.5bn. Italy, Japan, and Germany all recorded investment of around $2.5bn.
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