Cinven has underlined the subdued nature of the European private equity industry in its annual report for 2008, a year during which the UK buyout firm made just two new investments amid a dearth of activity in the sector.

In its report, entitled 'Taking the long view' marks a shift in attitude from the previous year when it published a report called 'The value of transformation'. In the 2008 paper, Robin Hall, a managing partner at Cinven, called it a "quiet year" compared with 2007, in which the group made eight investments.