More than a half of all European buyouts this year have been carried out between private equity firms following a 13-fold increase, despite concerns over the cost of "passing the parcel".

Private equity firms carrying out deals with each other, known as secondary buyouts, were worth $4.2bn (€3.1bn) in Europe in the first two months of this year, up from $307m in the same period last year, according to data provider Dealogic. This meant that the share of all buyouts accounted for by secondary deals rose to 66% from 13% last year, Dealogic said.