BERLIN - Private equity leaders expressed optimism on Wednesday about the prospects for investments in Europe as economies recover.
Speaking at SuperReturn International in Berlin, Guy Hands, the chairman of the private equity firm Terra Firma, said that he thought “substantial opportunities†existed for private equity deals in Europe but that the region’s recovery would continue to be slow.
Mr. Hands estimated it would be four or five years until there was a “solid economic recovery†in Europe but said that the overall environment was improving.
“I think there are incredible opportunities to make substantial amounts of money,†Mr. Hands said in a speech at the private equity industry gathering.
David M. Rubenstein, the co-founder of the Carlyle Group, echoed Mr. Hands’s comments in a separate address at the conference on Wednesday.
“Europe will be the market of focus in 2014,†he said.
The pricing for companies in Europe is less expensive than it is for companies in the United States, where private equity has focused many of its investments in recent years, he said.
Despite a frenetic period of selling and spinoffs of portfolio companies over the last few years, Mr. Rubenstein noted that the value of private equity deals in Europe and elsewhere, while rising, was still well below its peak.
