We've been examining secondary market demand for certain private equity and venture capital funds - so far we've explored the most sought after U.S. buyout funds and venture capital funds.

Now we have the rankings of the 40 most sought-after European buyout funds courtesy of secondaries intermediary Setter Capital, which has been compiling the data over at www.secondarylink.com.

Setter's ranking is based largely on buyer demand for specific funds, though other factors do come into play. Funds are given Setter's Liquidity Rating, a relative measure of funds' salability and buyer demand. The most liquid funds receive a rating of Excellent, Very Good or Good, while all other funds are labeled Unrated.

Roughly half the list is made up of pan-European funds such as CVC Europe, Apax Europe and Advent Global Private Equity, as well as European funds managed by U.S. based firms KKR, Bain Capital and Carlyle. Interestingly, one-quarter of the funds were Nordic-focused, clearly a hot space, in contrast to southern Europe, where only one fund (Investindustrial) made the grade.

Here is the list: 40 Most Sought after EURO LBO funds on the Secondary Market.