The plight of the buyout industry during the credit crisis has been highlighted by figures from trade body the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, which show write-offs accounted for half of total divestments in the first quarter of this year, and that fundraising has dropped by 87% to €2.5bn ($3.5bn).

EVCA said total value of deals in the first quarter was €1.9bn, with write-offs accounting for half (€950m) of that. EVCA does not include the increase in value of investments, preferring to count at cost, which is the initial outlay for the investments. In the previous quarter, value of deals was €2.3bn.