Despite their almost equally sized economies, the UK and Italy are characterised as much by their differences as their similarities. However, in private equity they are close in at least one respect: the attempt by investors to turn round struggling buyout-backed companies.

In the third quarter, just two turnround firms made up almost the entire private equity market as the total value of acquisitions of Italian companies fell by about 95% compared to the same period last year, according to data provider Dealogic.