Refinancing of European leveraged buy-outs more than doubled to a record $15.6bn (€12.1bn) in the first three months of the year as private equity firms rushed to take advantage of low borrowing costs.

The volume of refinancings of LBOs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa surged from around $6.5bn in the first quarter of 2004, itself a record, according to investment banking research company Dealogic.