Private equity-backed delistings have dropped by 77% in value this year compared with last year's buyout boom as cheap debt to fund deals dried up, despite demand from small-cap companies keen to leave the market.

Take privates announced this year were valued at $116.9bn (€83.8bn) in the calendar year to 19 December, compared with deals worth $512bn launched last year, according to data provider Thomson Reuters. Without access to cheap debt as a means to leverage acquisitions, private equity buyouts fell to the lowest level since 2004.