CVC Capital Partners has acquired six specialty retail store companies from Royal Vendex, the retail group, for €394m, amid signs that private equity dealflow is beginning to regain momentum.

Deal activity fell off dramatically in Europe at the end of last year. According to preliminary figures from the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, the amount invested in 2001 fell to €23bn, down from €35bn the previous year. Private equity professionals have been had to play a waiting game while vendors realise their price expectations are too high and the lenders recover confidence in the market. But in the last month or two, in private, they have been expressing more optimism.