Luxembourg-based CVC Capital has long wanted to go public. But the private equity firm behind rugby’s Six Nations and soccer’s LaLiga has not had success—until now.
CVC has finally set its eyes on a public listing at Amsterdam’s stock exchange, to raise more than €1.25 billion ($1.3 billion), the company said in a statement Monday.
As one of Europe’s largest private equity players with €186 billion ($198 billion) in assets, CVC invests in a wide range of industries, from sports to health care and retail. CVC famously owned the Formula 1 franchise for several years up until 2016, when it sold it to the U.S.-based Liberty Media.
The firm is seeking a valuation of between €13 billion ($13.8 billion) and €15 billion ($15.9 billion), the Financial Times reported.
CVC has long aspired to launch its IPO, including in November, before backtracking due to geopolitical tensions adding to the market uncertainty. Although some of those trends continue to loom in the background, conditions have improved and given way to other notable IPOs globally—such as Swiss skin care company Galderma.
The broader buyout industry has dealt with the same challenges as many others, owing to high interest rates and lower dealmaking appetite.
By going public, Luxembourg’s CVC will be one among its many American and European private equity counterparts that have launched IPOs, such as Blackstone and Bridgepoint Group.
In the Monday statement, CVC’s CEO Rob Lucas said that he believes “an IPO of CVC provides an enduring long-term institutional structure to support further growth.”
As a result of the listing, stakes of the private equity firm’s key shareholders, including Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, will reduce. The capital CVC raises from the listing will be used to make acquisitions in new industries.
CVC’s scale
The firm, cofounded by four finance professionals as an arm within Citigroup over 40 years ago, has soared to become Europe’s top private equity group.
For its part, CVC has a strong financial base as its revenues surpassed €1 billion ($1 billion) last year, a company statement said. Last year alone, CVC raised €26.5 billion ($28.2 billion)—valued at the time as the biggest-ever private equity fund.
The impending listing could help draw more awareness among investors and expand CVC as it forges its path forward. It’s still unclear when exactly the company plans to debut in Amsterdam.
“This is very much a long-term structural decision for the business and we expect the IPO to take place in the coming weeks, obviously subject to market conditions, and we’re monitoring events in the Middle East very, very closely,” CEO Lucas told Bloomberg in an interview.
Representatives at CVC didn’t immediately return Coins2Day’s request for comment.
