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 Headquarters at IFC 5 inSt Helier, Jersey | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
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| Industry | Private equity |
| Founded | 1981; 45 years ago (1981) |
| Founder | Rolly van Rappard |
| Headquarters | , Jersey |
Key people |
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| Products |
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| Services |
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| AUM | €186 billion (2024)[3] |
Number of employees | c. 850 (2023)[4] |
| Website | cvc |
CVC Capital Partners plc is aJersey-basedprivate equity and investment advisory firm with approximately €186 billion ofassets under management[3] and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, European, and Asian private equity,secondaries, credit funds and infrastructure.[5] As of 31 December 2021, the funds managed or advised by CVC are invested in more than 100 companies worldwide, employing over 450,000 people in numerous countries. CVC was founded in 1981 and, as of 31 March 2022, has over 850 employees[4] working across its network of 25 offices throughoutEMEA, Asia and the Americas.
In 2023, it raised the largest ever raisedprivate equity fund globally at €26 billion.[6]
In June 2024, CVC Capital Partners ranked fourth inPrivate Equity International's PEI 300 ranking among the world's largest private equity firms.[7]
| History of private equity and venture capital |
|---|
| Early history |
| (origins of modernprivate equity) |
| The 1980s |
| (leveraged buyout boom) |
| The 1990s |
| (leveraged buyout and the venture capital bubble) |
| The 2000s |
| (dot-com bubble to thecredit crunch) |
| The 2010s |
| (expansion) |
| The 2020s |
| (COVID-19 recession) |
Citicorp Venture Capital was founded in 1981. By the early 1990s, Michael Smith, who joinedCiticorp in 1982, was leading Citicorp Venture Capital in Europe along with other managing directors Steven Koltes,Hardy McLain, Donald Mackenzie, Iain Parham, and Rolly van Rappard. In 1993, Smith and the senior investment professionals of Citicorp Venture Capital negotiated aspinoff fromCitibank to form an independent private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners.[8] In 1996, Rob Lucas, who would go on to be the firm's lead managing partner in the 2020s, joined the firm.[9]
By 2000, CVC was one of the largest and best known private equity firms in Europe. In 2001, CVC completed fundraising for its third investment fund, which was the largest private equity fund raised in Europe at the time, just ahead of funds raised by other leading firms,Apax Partners andBC Partners.[10]
In 2004, CVC andPermira bought fromCentrica the British motoring associationThe AA, and in July 2007 merged The AA withSaga underAcromas Holdings.[11]
In 2006, the US arm of Citigroup Venture Capital also spun out of the bank to form a new firm, known asCourt Square Capital Partners. CVC operated offices inLondon,Paris andFrankfurt. Following the spinoff, CVC raised its first investment fund with $300 million of commitments, half coming from Citicorp and the rest fromhigh-net-worth individuals and institutional investors. Now independent, CVC also completed its transition from venture capital investments toleveraged buyouts and investments in mature businesses. CVC would follow up with its second fund in 1996, it is first fully independent of Citibank, with $840 million of capital commitments.[12]
From November 2005 to March 2006, CVC gradually purchased 63.4% of the shares of theFormula One Group, owner of theFormula One auto racing championship.
In 2006, CVC andPermira were accused by Labour MPGwyn Prosser in theHouse of Commons of "greed" and "blatantasset stripping" ofThe AA "to borrow £500m on the basis of The AA's assets in order to pay themselves a dividend." The AA responded that they were "happy to have a reasoned conversation with Mr Prosser."[13]
In 2007, CVC expanded to the U.S., opening an office inNew York City, headed by Christopher Stadler and overseen by Rolly van Rappard.[14]
In 2012, CVC reduced its shares in theFormula One Group to 35.5%. The deputy team principal ofForce India, Bob Fernley, accused CVC of "raping the sport" during the period of its involvement in Formula One.[15]
In January 2013, Smith retired from the role of chairman and Koltes, Mackenzie and Van Rappard were appointed co-chairmen of the group.[16]
In January 2015, CVC Capital Partners and Bencis Capital Partners were sentenced to pay fines by theDutch Authority for Consumers and Markets after it charged the former Dutch portfolio company of the two firms, Meneba Beheer, with breaking competition rules through price fixing.[17][18] The Dutch regulator ruled that the two firms must pay between €450,000 and €1.5 million after Meneba Beheer, which was itself fined €9 million by the authority, was involved in a collective agreement with competitors to keep prices stable between 2001 and 2007.[17]
In February 2015, CVC made its first investment from CVC Growth Partners in Wireless Logic, Europe's largest machine-to-machine managed service provider, acquiring it fromECI Partners.[19] In March, CVC bought 80% of shares of gambling companySky Betting & Gaming.[20]
In June 2015, CVC acquired theGerman perfume retailerDouglas AG for an disclosed fee from private equity firmAdvent International.[21] In September, CVC opened an office inWarsaw.[22]
In November 2015, CVC and theCanada Pension Plan Investment Board both acquiredAmerican pet supplierPetco for a fee of around $4.6 billion.[23]
In April 2016, CVC Capital Partners acquired German betting operatorTipico.[24] In August, CVC Capital Partners agreed to buy a 15% stake inPT Siloam International Hospitals Tbk, amongIndonesia's andSoutheast Asia's largest corporate chains of private hospitals.[25]
In September 2016, CVC Capital Partners agreed to sell control of the Formula One Group toJohn Malone'sLiberty Media in a deal worth US$4.4bn. The two-part deal would see the US media group buy 18.7 per cent of the F1 parent company Delta Topco for $746mn in cash from a consortium of shareholders led by CVC. In 2017, a second payment of $354mn in cash and $3.3bn in newly issued shares in a Liberty Media tracking stock saw Liberty Media assume full control of Formula One once the deal was approved by regulators, theFIA and Liberty's shareholders.[26]
In February 2017, CVC Capital Partners acquiredŻabka group the leadingPolishconvenience retailer fromMid Europa Partners for $1.12billion.[27][28]
In October 2017, CVC Capital Partners acquiredDutch global provider ofcompliance andadministrative services firmTMF Group for €1.75 billion.[29][30]
In May 2018, CVC Capital Partners paid $160 million for the acquisition ofOANDA Global Corporation (OANDA),[31][32] a global online retailforeign exchange trading platform,currencydata andanalytics company headquartered inToronto, Ontario, Canada.[33]
Towards the end of 2019, CVC Capital Partners purchased Ontic fromBBA Aviation for $1.365 billion.
In August 2021, Spain'sLa Liga clubs approved a €2.7 billion deal to sell 10% of the league to CVC Capital Partners.[34] However,Goldman Sachs contributed a €1 billion loan to CVC to complete the deal.[35]
On 25 October 2021, Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) bought theAhmedabad-basedIndian Premier League cricket franchise (Gujarat Titans) for₹56,250 million (US$670 million).[36]
In November 2021, CVC acquired the bulk ofUnilever's tea division,Lipton Teas and Infusions for £4.5 billion. It included 34 tea brands.[37] The deal also included tea estates in three countries and 11 factories.[38]
In July 2022, CVC sold a near-50 per cent stake inTMF Group to theAbu Dhabi Investment Authority.[39] In 2022, co-founder Steve Koltes stepped down from the firm.[40]
CVC initially planned to float an IPO on theEuronext Amsterdam stock exchange in 2022.[41] The float was delayed, citing market disruption caused by inflation and theinvasion of Ukraine.[42][43] The deal was further postponed in 2023. The chief executive of the firm would be Rob Lucas.[44]
In December 2023, CVC acquired a Japanese pharmacy operator, Sogo Medical, for $1.2 billion.[45]
In February 2024 CVC raised $6.8 billion for its sixth Asia fund, its largest to date in the region and 50% larger than the previous $4.5 billion fund raised in 2020.[46][47] Donald Mackenzie, another co-founder, stepped back from the firm in February 2024.[9]
In February 2024, CVC completed the creation of CVC Capital Partners Asia VI, the sixth fund inAsia. Asia VI is the very previous fund it created in 2020, a 50% increase from AsiaV, which was raised to $4.5 billion.[48]
On 26 April 2024, CVC listed its shares on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, opening at €17.34. The total offering size was €2.3 billion.[49][50]
On July 3, 2024, CVC gained a 60% share of DIF Capital Partners with an additional 20% to be acquired shortly after 31 December 2026 and the final 20% to be acquired shortly after 31 December 2028.[51]
On 23 November 2024,Sky News reported that CVC Capital Partners,TF1,RedBird Capital Partners,All3Media,Mediawan andKohlberg Kravis Roberts had been linked to a potential takeover bid forITV plc and a possible break-up of core assets such asITV Studios andITVX.[52]
In September 2025, CVC Capital Partners acquired a majority stake inNamecheap, adomain registration andweb hosting company, in a deal that valued the company at approximately $1.5 billion.[53] The transaction also included Namecheap's subsidiary, Spaceship.[54]
In December 2025, it was announced CVC had agreed to acquire theUK-headquartered company, Smiths Detection fromSmith Group for approximately US$2.65 billion. Smiths Detection develops threat-detection and security-screening technologies used in airports and other critical infrastructure. The acquisition will be financed through CVC’s Capital Partners IX fund.[55]
CVC agreed to acquire American credit managerMarathon Asset Management for up to $1.2 billion in January 2026.[56]
| Fund[57] | Year | Region | Size (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVC European Equity Partners I | 1996 | Europe | $840 |
| CVC European Equity Partners II | 1998 | Europe | $3,333 |
| CVC Asia Fund I | 2000 | Asia | $750 |
| CVC European Equity Partners III[14] | 2001 | Europe | $3,971 |
| CVC European Equity Partners IV[58] | 2005 | Europe | €6,000 |
| CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific II | 2005 | Asia | $1,975 |
| CVC European Equity Partners Tandem Fund | 2007 | Europe | €4,123 |
| CVC European Equity Partners V | 2008 | Europe | €10,750 |
| CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific III | 2008 | Asia | $4,120 |
| CVC Capital Partners Asia IV | 2014 | Asia | $3,495 |
| CVC Capital Partners VI | 2014 | Global | €10,907 |
| CVC Growth Partners | 2015 | US & Europe | $1,000 |
| CVC Capital Partners VII | 2017 | Global | $18,000 |
| CVC Strategic Opportunities II[59] | 2019 | Global | $4,600 |
| CVC Growth Partners II[60] | 2019 | US & Europe | $1,600 |
| CVC Capital Partners Asia V[61] | 2020 | Asia | $4,500 |
| CVC Capital Partners VIII[62] | 2020 | US & Europe | €21,300 |
| CVC Capital Partners Asia VI[63] | 2023 | Asia | $6,800 |
| CVC Capital Partners IX[64] | 2023 | €26,000 |
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Media related toCVC Capital Partners at Wikimedia Commons
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