Who says Germany's not restructuring?

• Author: Schonberg, Stefan
• Position: OFF THE NEWS

Last year the volume of leveraged buyouts I in Europe reached a level of 117 billion [euro], This year is shaping up to become even bigger. American investors are particularly active. and Germany seems to hold special opportunities for them. Private equity funds have invested 21 billion [euro] in German companies during the first half of 2006--more than ever before. Blackstone acquired a big chunk of Deutsche Telekom, Whitehall bought the real estate owned by Karstadt-Quelle. Fortress took over the complete public housing owned by the City of Dresden. and BC Partners spent 3 billion [euro] on the takeover of Brenntag, a German chemicals company.

Thriving credit markets have helped buyout companies raise plenty of debt to pay for...