The aggregate target capital of Europe-focused real estate debt funds currently in market is more than four times the amount of capital being targeted a year ago.

In this edition of its Private Equity Spotlight, Preqin take a look at the importance of the first close in the private equity fundraising cycle and reviews how average portfolio company holding periods of private equity-backed buyout deals have changed recently.

This week's PE News Digest from DealMarket takes a look at Clipperton's VC Ecosystem report and how the Chinese IPO backlog could encourage M&A, as well as the quote of the week and all the latest industry news.

Preqin’s data shows that the average holding period for private equity-backed portfolio companies increased year on year between 2008 and 2012. Mega deals (over $1bn) exited so far in 2013 had an average holding period of 6.2 years, up from just 2.1 years in 2008.

This month's edition of Real Estate Spotlight takes a detailed look at Europe-focused fundraising and the investment activity of institutional investors based in the region, examining the latest real estate fundraising statistics, strategies targeted by European investors and the amount they intend to commit to private real estate in the next year.