Private equity firms are taking to heart the Scout motto: be prepared. The industry is enjoying a strong era for selling on companies at a profit as well as securing favourable loan terms from banks. But while the good times roll, they are also getting their portfolio companies and themselves ready should another economic crisis hit.

In March, consultancy Bain & Company said in its latest global private equity report that buyout firms should remain on alert against "powerful structural tensions that threaten to pull the eurozone apart in the not-too-distant future". It cited Greece's sovereign debt woes, economic stagnation and deflation in periphery European countries as some of the issues that may have knock-on effects for the private equity industry.