Private equity companies in the United States and United Kingdom seem to be poised to enter into joint ventures to acquire German companies, said to be good targets for acquisition because so many of them are underperforming at the current time.

This at a time when foreign influence in the German market has gone from nearly nonexistent to growing at a rapid rate in only the past fifteen years or so. One expert believes that he could easily see two or three equity firms teaming up to take a German company private.

Further speculation is that these equity firms are ready to break with tradition and are seeking to acquire minority portions of some of the German companies rather than taking the traditional path of outright takeover.

Among the nearly one-third of German blue-chip companies said to be targeted are Bayer, Lufthansa, perhaps even Volkswagen.