Affordable deals and readily available debt are likely to be in short supply across Europe this year, so private equity firms will be looking to add strategic expertise to their portfolio of companies.

The number of add-on acquisitions made by private equity-backed companies across Europe has been rising steadily since 2005, according to data-provider Thomson Financial. Last year, private equity-owned companies in Europe agreed 882 add-on acquisitions, compared with 696 in 2006.