More than half of private equity exits in Europe in the first quarter of this year involved sales to other buyout firms rather than corporate buyers, according to data provider PitchBook Data.

Secondary buyouts have taken up a bigger share of firms’ exit activity in recent years, FN's sister publication Private Equity Newsreports. Last year they accounted for nearly half of exits and outnumbered trade sales for the first time since 2006, according to PitchBook.