European investors go private

The growth of the private placement market in the US is on course to be mirrored in Europe, but according to a survey by Fitch Ratings, initial take-up seems to be slow

European institutional investors are keen to get involved in the private placement market, a survey published last month concludes. But several obstacles to the development of a European market remain in place – with deficiencies in credit research resources foremost among them.

The survey by rating agency Fitch Ratings notes that the US private placement market grew to $46 billion last year, an increase of almost 60% on 2002. An increasing number of European corporates are choosing to issue in