A convenient truth

For the second year in a row, Apax Partners has ranked the ‘friendliest’ environments for private equity around the world. The sequel finds that despite Western firms' recent globe-trotting, the best destinations remain close to home.

Private equity environment rankings 2007

RANK (last year in brackets) COUNTRY SCORE
1 (1) United States 6.4
2 (2) United Kingdom 4.8
3 (4) Canada 4.4
4 (5) Denmark 3.8
5 (8) Sweden 3.8
6 (7) Switzerland 3.8
7 (3) Australia 3.1
8 (10) Ireland 3.1
9 (12) Netherlands 2.6
10 (11) Finland 2.6
11 (6) New Zealand 2.0
12 (15) Germany 1.9
13 (13) Norway 1.8
14 (16) Austria 1.5
15 (17) France 1.4
16 (9) Belgium 1.1
17 (14) Israel -0.1
18 (18) Portugal -0.3
19 (20) South Korea -0.6
20 (21) Spain -1.0
21 (23) Japan -1.7
22 (19) Poland -1.9
23 (26) Czech Republic -2.1
24 (25) Slovakia -2.2
25 (24) Italy -2.5
26 (27) Greece -2.7
27 (22) Hungary -3.1
28 (32) India -4.5
29 (31) Mexico -4.5
30 (29) Brazil -4.9
31 (30) Russian Federation -5.0
32 (33) China -5.3
33 (28) Turkey -6.1