Bankers were paid lower fees by private equity houses in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous year, despite the recent boom in leveraged buyouts.

Although $126bn (€98.5bn) of buy-outs were announced in the first quarter of this year, 39% up from last year, banking fees from private equity sponsors fell 14% to $2.1bn, according to figures from Freeman & Co, a US-based consultancy, and Thomson Financial, a data provider.