On the face of it, German buyout activity in the second quarter was the best for nearly six years. A total of $7.7 billion worth of buyouts made it the highest quarter by deal value since the height of the boom era in the third quarter of 2007, when activity reached $8.3 billion, according to data provider Dealogic.

It helped deal values in the first half of the year to reach $7.8 billion, more than double the levels witnessed in the first halves of 2012 or 2011.