Private equity groups are set to increase their focus on growth equity and minority investing in the UK and Ireland as they look for attractive deal opportunities amid the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

Growth equity and minority stake deals started to become more popular for general partners before the crisis, data provider PitchBook noted in a recently published study. Now, companies in the UK and Ireland that are not distressed are expected to be more receptive to infusions of growth or rescue capital to plug cash flow shortfalls, as opposed to full-scale takeovers, according to Dominick Mondesir, PitchBook’s Emea private capital analyst.