The golden age is over – but there have long been signs it was an over-excitable period dependent on special circumstances - and the fourth annual survey by Private Equity News, sponsored by law firm Simmons & Simmons, reveals the new dawn for the industry.

From 2003 to 2007, "nearly all private equity firms were able to grow exponentially thanks to an unusually favourable financial and economic climate and, in particular, four major drivers of growth: massive amounts of cheap debt, rising profitability across all industries, escalating asset prices and the allocation of significant assets from institutional investors to private equity funds".