Given the size of the German economy, buy-out activity continues to be little more than a sideshow in the country's corporate restructuring. Latest annual activity figures from the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association show that in 2004 German private equity investments accounted for 0.17% of gross domestic product, compared with a European average of 0.35%, 0.4% in the US and 1.1% in the UK.

Completed buy-out deals in Germany last year rose to €15.4bn ($18.3bn), from €12bn the year before. While the number of deals increased from 32 in 2004 to 41, they were characterised by more mid-market deals and an absence of large leveraged transactions.