One of the most common fears surrounding buy-outs is their cost in terms of jobs. That image has been reinforced in the past year by attacks on private finance by European politicians, including Franz Müntefering, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party, who labelled large private equity firms "locusts" in his attack on financiers in the run-up to the German general election in May.

However, the industry is fighting back. Last week, the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association published a survey conducted by the Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies at the Technische Universität München. The survey said buy-out and venture capital-backed companies had increased staffing levels four times higher than the average among EU member states.