Europe's private equity bankers have had little rest in the run up to the holidays, with a flurry of deals making it the busiest pre-Christmas period of financial sponsor-related activity for three years.

There have been 25 private equity-backed acquisitions in Europe announced in the 51st week of the year, worth $3.1 billion, according to the data provider Dealogic. This follows on from 19 deals worth $1.3 billion last week.