Art of the Deal: Speed Dating Style

Speed investing began in 2006 in London, and has now spread to North America with events held in New York, Boston and Toronto this past week. There are also plans to expand them elsewhere in Europe, with Milan and Madrid planned for later this year.

Seaward said participants who have grown weary of a traditional, yet more long-winded, approach to dealmaking appreciate the informality of speed investing.

"I've sat through enough of those meetings in my career, and know perfectly well that the gist of the discussion is going to take place for about 20 minutes of an hour meeting," said Seaward, who is managing director of Dresdner Kleinwort's corporate access team.

"Both sides know it, and go through this charade yet know very well the business of the day can be done in a shorter period of time," he said. "This just dispenses with the formalities and gets on with the business."

So far, the success rate shows that about 25 percent of the companies later arrange for longer meetings. Those are good odds in the world of high finance and even staggering for some of the smaller European companies that might have never caught the eye of an American investor.

Marcus Jentsch, head of investor relations for German power supplier MVV Energie AG, said his company already has some international investors but is looking for more. He said the time is right as more American portfolio managers are looking overseas to fill out their portfolios.

"Business is becoming more international," he said. "So it is a natural trend that the asset managers in America are looking more and more overseas for new ideas."