Despite the overall current lack of optimism and cautiousness, private equity still sees Central Europe as one of the regions which will be less hit by a global economic downturn, says Deloitte's Central European Private Equity Confidence Survey, published in December 2008.

Many Private Equity professionals in Central Europe see the current environment as a great opportunity and believe that seeds sown in 2009 may reap great rewards. The corollary of this of course is that seeds sown in 2008 may need constant nourishing in order for them to flourish. This is confirmed by the findings of Deloitte's latest Central European Private Equity Confidence Survey.

Key findings:

• Global financial crisis and economic turmoil has cut the confidence in private equity in half compared to April 2008
• Debt availability expected to contract further in the short term
• Clear shift of fund focus from new acquisitions to portfolio management
• Despite expectations on slowing market activity, funds expect to buy more in the coming periods with key competition for mid-sized targets and market leaders
• Unanimously, entry multiples are expected to curtail
• Major investments in the given period 2008

Deloitte's Central European Private Equity Confidence Survey reflects the expectations of private equity professionals focusing on Central Europe. The survey has been conducted twice a year since March 2003 and the results are based on questionnaires sent to professionals in private equity firms covering the following Central European countries: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania.


You can find the full text of the survey here.