A team of 12 Frankfurt-based investment professionals at 3i, Europe's largest private equity firm, has turned its attention to focusing exclusively on buy-outs, despite the disappointing level of activity that has caused other firms to quit Germany.

Jane Crawford, managing director of 3i in Germany, said: "This will be a brand new team of 12 people who were previously doing other things as well as buy-outs. We have always felt there was an opportunity to invest development capital in the mid-market and now we are shifting resources towards that."