It has been the busiest start to a year for private equity dealmaking in more than a a decade, FN's sister publication Private Equity Newsreports.

In the period from January 1 to February 12, the value of so-called sponsor-backed deals around the world soared to $40.5bn from $23.7bn in the same period in 2017, according to data from Dealogic. It was the busiest start to the year since 2007, when $46.2bn was spent.