The leveraged buy-out market was boosted in the second half of 2002 by companies in need of refinancing and a small number of mega deals, increasing the figure from €30bn ($33bn) in the first six months of last year to €57.4bn in the second half.

According to a report by Fitch Ratings, the number of deals remained steady throughout the year, with a significantly increased transaction size in the second half, mostly thanks to deals such as Legrand and Jefferson Smurfit. Fitch said these deals were behind a big increase in new issuance, rising from €9bn in the first half to €24.6bn in the second half of the year.