(1888PressRelease)
August 30, 2008 - London - Investment in deals went down by 35% to EUR 858 million from EUR 1.33 billion in 286 deals over the same period last year, according to a Dow Jones VentureSource report. With the IPO and M&A market slowing in Europe, venture capitalists are finding it difficult to cash out of startups and hesitant about new investments.
Experts feel that the venture capitalists are being very selective about the companies they back.
Biopharmaceutical and health care sectors were the hardest hit, as investments fell by 59% and 55% respectively. Investment in the information technology sector also dropped by 46% with 86 deals completed in Q2, 2008 as compared to 158 deals during the same period last year. However, investments in energy sector and information services increased significantly. Data from other sources show record investments in Europe’s Energy and Utilities sector. Investments in this sector in the second quarter jumped to EUR 147 million in 10 deals, making it the third largest European sector in term of venture investments.
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