In addition to continuing to focus on Britain’s top private companies, Fast Track is turning its attention to researching and tracking the top private companies on the Continent.

Our preliminary research focuses on the European Union’s biggest family-owned and private-equity-owned companies, excluding cooperatives. We present some of the findings here, though clearly this is still a work in progress and requires more detailed investigation, subject to securing suitable corporate sponsorship to continue this ground-breaking research.

Our current research has identified just over 400 companies with revenues ranging from €1 billion to €93 billion, resulting in combined sales of more than €1.5 trillion. Of these, 15% have sales between €93 billion and €5 billion; 25% have sales bewteen €5 billion and €2 billion; and 60% have sales between €2 billion and €1 billion. The provisional list of the EU’s biggest 15 private companies is on the right.

Six German companies dominate the EU’s biggest private companies in terms of turnover. All 15 companies have profits (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of more than €1 billion.

Most of the firms in the top 15 are Europe-wide retail brands such as Lidl, Aldi, Auchan, Ikea and El Corte Ingles. However, there are two noticeable manufacturers – the electric appliance giant Bosch and the British petrochemical manufacturer, Ineos.

Bosch and the media giant Bertelsmann were set up in the mid1800s. By comparison, Europe’s private company with the biggest sales is a newcomer – Vitol was founded only in the mid 1960s and is owned by the management and its employees. It has its headquarters in the Netherlands and is more than just an energy trader, with exploration and production facilities as far afield as the Philippines and the Congo.

New entrant Alliance Boots, owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is the only one of the top 15 companies that is owned by private equity.

The provisional list of 400 private companies with sales of more than €1 billion gives some interesting insights. As well as the 56 UK companies there are many European household brands such as Ferrero Haribo, Lego, Miele, Red Bull, Swarovski and Tchibo. Not surprisingly, several family-owned fashion houses also feature, such as Armani, Chanel, Diesel, Max Mara, Prada and Yves Rocher.

Companies knocking at the door of our European league table include well known names such as San Miguel, the family-owned brewer, and Ferretti, a maker of motor yachts that is backed by private equity.

Our research suggests that Germany has the lion’s share of the list, with just over 30%, followed by France and Britain with about 15%, and Italy and the Netherlands with about 10%. Seventeen of the EU’s 27 countries are represented. Smaller countries such as Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Austria also have their fair share of companies. In addition, private companies from the new economies of eastern Europe are beginning to edge into the top 400, including telecom operators Ceske Radio-komunikace from the Czech Republic and Mobitel from Poland.

The sector make-up of companies of the European list in some ways mirrors our UK Top Track 100. Retail, services and consumer goods account for about a third of our top 400 privately owned European companies.

One of the big differences comes in manufacturing. Europe is not just a continent of shopkeepers. Almost a third of its biggest private companies are engaged in making things like chemicals, instruments and machines. Alongside giants like Bosch and Ineos are manufacturers such as Carl Zeiss, Miele and Stihl. Over half these manufacturing companies are German, many of them members of the Mittelstand – those renowned traditional, family- or entrepreneur-owned, mid-range German companies. Many of these manufacturers are making significant profits, often equivalent to 10% of sales.

Other sectors that stand out include utilities and energy – in part reflecting the surge in demand for oil and fuel. Vitol and Trafigura are among the 31 energy enterprises on our list. The telecom, media and technology sector is also doing well and accounts for 8% of the list, including firms such as Dangaard Telecom and Eircom. In part their success is a product of buyouts and stock-market delistings but also of the rise of new companies in media, communications and IT.

New enterprises are also coming through in pharmaceuticals, health-care, recycling, green energy and the provision of niche business services. Examples include Enercon, a German maker of wind-power turbines, and Amadeus, a Spanish firm that specialises in IT services for the tourist industry. That said, 18 old-style conglomerates or holding companies like Franz Haniel in Germany or John Swire in Britain still feature prominently.

Britain may also account for 15% of the top European private companies but in one direction – spearheading the private-equity revolution – it is setting the pace. Nearly half (47%) of the UK companies in this year’s Top Track 100 are backed by private equity, compared with less than 30% in mainland Europe. European private companies, such as the telecoms firm TDVC and retailer Maxeda have been increasingly adopting the British model. It will be interesting to see how the continuing credit crunch affects this development.

Explore Top Track 100

• Top Track 100 table