Financial services

Europe’s financial services sector is dominated by large organisations. Due to their size and political sensitivity, most are outside the scope of private equity funds. But these large organisations have often been slow to seize market opportunities, leaving room for smaller, often privately-owned businesses to fulfil unmet needs. It is mainly these smaller and medium-sized companies that interest the private equity community. Improved business processes, new routes to the customer and product innovation have all been fertile territory for private equity-backed businesses. Examples include companies that offer debt collection services, tax planning products and services, transaction processing, and mortgage and credit card products for borrowers with impaired credit records. Private equity has invested in specialised financial services businesses throughout the European Union, including Central and Eastern Europe.

Private equity firms are interested in senior managers with proven skills in the areas that enable smaller businesses to compete against larger financial services companies, such as process design, execution and distribution.