CVC Capital Partners
Encyclopedia
CVC Capital Partners is one of the top five largest private equity
firms globally with approximately US$46 billion in funds focused on management buyout
s. Since 1981, CVC has completed over 250 investments across a wide range of industries and countries.
CVC was founded in 1981 and today has a network of eighteen offices throughout Europe
, Asia
and the United States
.
investments. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Citicorp Venture Capital, at that time under the leadership of chairman William T. Comfort, continued to invest in early stage businesses but also expanded into the emerging leveraged buyout
business. CVC Capital Partners was originally founded in 1981 as the European arm of Citicorp Venture Capital.
Among Citicorp Venture Capital's early managing directors in Europe were John Botts, Otto Van der Wyck, Jon Moulton
and Frank Neale. Of the group's original European leadership, most would leave by the late 1980s. Botts left in 1987 to found his own boutique investment banking firm, Botts & Company. Moulton left the bank to co-found Schroder Ventures (the predecessor of Permira
) in 1985. The following year, Van der Wyck left to co-found European private equity firm BC Partners
in 1986 and today serves as chairman of AlpInvest and a senior advisor to Coller Capital
. Neale also departed to join Phildrew Ventures, which subsequently became UBS Capital and later IRRfc.
. CVC operated offices in London
, Paris
and Frankfurt
.
Following the spinout, CVC raised its first investment fund with $300 million of commitments, half coming from Citicorp and the rest from high net worth individuals and institutional investors. Now independent, CVC also completed its transition from venture capital investments to leveraged buyout
s and investments in mature businesses. CVC would follow up with its second fund in 1996, its first fully independent of Citibank, with $840 million of capital commitments.
and BC Partners
. Also, around the same time, CVC expanded into Asia with a $750 million fund focusing exclusively on investments in Asian companies.
In 2007, CVC expanded to the U.S., opening an office in New York City
, headed by Christopher Stadler and overseen by Rolly van Rappard.
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firms globally with approximately US$46 billion in funds focused on management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
s. Since 1981, CVC has completed over 250 investments across a wide range of industries and countries.
CVC was founded in 1981 and today has a network of eighteen offices throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Founding
The U.S.-based bank, Citicorp, had established an investment arm in 1968 to focus on venture capitalVenture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
investments. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Citicorp Venture Capital, at that time under the leadership of chairman William T. Comfort, continued to invest in early stage businesses but also expanded into the emerging leveraged buyout
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
business. CVC Capital Partners was originally founded in 1981 as the European arm of Citicorp Venture Capital.
Among Citicorp Venture Capital's early managing directors in Europe were John Botts, Otto Van der Wyck, Jon Moulton
Jon Moulton
Jon Moulton is a British venture capitalist. He is the founder and managing partner of the private equity firm Better Capital, and is the former managing partner of the private equity firm Alchemy Partners...
and Frank Neale. Of the group's original European leadership, most would leave by the late 1980s. Botts left in 1987 to found his own boutique investment banking firm, Botts & Company. Moulton left the bank to co-found Schroder Ventures (the predecessor of Permira
Permira
Permira is a United Kingdom-based private equity firm with global reach. The firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately €20 billion....
) in 1985. The following year, Van der Wyck left to co-found European private equity firm BC Partners
BC Partners
BC Partners is a private equity firm specialising in buyouts and acquisitions financing in Europe and the United States. The firm invests across all industries...
in 1986 and today serves as chairman of AlpInvest and a senior advisor to Coller Capital
Coller Capital
Coller Capital, founded in 1990 by Jeremy Coller, is one of the leading global investors in the Private equity secondary market ....
. Neale also departed to join Phildrew Ventures, which subsequently became UBS Capital and later IRRfc.
Spinout from Citicorp and the 1990s
By the early 1990s, Michael Smith, who joined Citicorp 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 a spinout from Citibank to form an independent private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners. In 2006, the US arm of Citigroup Venture Capital also spun out of the bank to form a new firm, known as Court Square Capital PartnersCourt Square Capital Partners
Court Square Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. Court Square was originally a captive private equity firm within Citigroup known as Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners...
. CVC operated offices in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
Following the spinout, CVC raised its first investment fund with $300 million of commitments, half coming from Citicorp and the rest from high net worth individuals and institutional investors. Now independent, CVC also completed its transition from venture capital investments to leveraged buyout
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
s and investments in mature businesses. CVC would follow up with its second fund in 1996, its first fully independent of Citibank, with $840 million of capital commitments.
Since 2000
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 PartnersApax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a global private equity and venture capital firm, headquartered in London. The company also operates out of eight other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Stockholm, Milan and Munich. The firm, including its various predecessors, have raised...
and BC Partners
BC Partners
BC Partners is a private equity firm specialising in buyouts and acquisitions financing in Europe and the United States. The firm invests across all industries...
. Also, around the same time, CVC expanded into Asia with a $750 million fund focusing exclusively on investments in Asian companies.
In 2007, CVC expanded to the U.S., opening an office in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, headed by Christopher Stadler and overseen by Rolly van Rappard.
Investment funds
| Fund | 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 | 2001 | Europe | $3,970 |
| CVC European Equity Partners IV | 2005 | Europe | € 6,000 |
| CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific II | 2005 | Asia | $1,975 |
| CVC European Equity Partners IV Tandem Fund | 2006 | Europe | € 4,123 |
| CVC European Equity Partners V | 2008 | Europe | € 10,750 |
| CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific III | 2008 | Asia | $4,119 |
Europe and the United States
CVC's current European and US portfolio of companies includes:- Pilot Travel CentersPilot Travel CentersPilot Flying J is a chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The company is owned by Pilot, FJ Management Inc., and CVC Capital Partners...
: the largest truck stopTruck stopA truck stop is a commercial facility predicated on providing fuel, parking, and often food and other services to motorists and truck drivers...
chain in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(co-owned with Pilot Corporation); - Formula One Group: the world's leading motor sport management business;
- SamsoniteSamsoniteThe Samsonite Corporation makes luggage with its products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. It was started in Denver, Colorado, USA in 1910 byJesse Shwayder, as the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company. Shwayder named one of his initial cases "Samson", after the...
: the global luggage company; - Automobile AssociationThe Automobile AssociationThe Automobile Association , a British motoring association founded in 1905 was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans and motoring advice, and other services...
: the leading automotive rescue service provider in the UK; - Merlin EntertainmentsMerlin EntertainmentsMerlin Entertainments Group Ltd is a British operator of amusement parks and other attractions. It is the largest such company in Europe, and globally the second largest after Walt Disney Parks and Resorts....
: worlds second largest theme park operator, jointly controlled with KIRKBI/Blackstone GroupBlackstone GroupThe Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,... - CortefielCortefielGrupo Cortefiel is the second largest apparel retailer in Spain through Cortefiel , Springfield and Women's Secret . The Iberian Peninsula accounts for more than 85% of the revenues of the group...
: one of the largest apparel retailers in Spain; - Seat Pagine GialleSeat Pagine GialleSEAT Pagine Gialle is an Italian telephone directories and street maps publisher, active also in the online advertising sector. The UK subsidiary is Thomson Directories Ltd.-External links:***...
: the leading directories business in Italy; - ParmarCorp: leading private equity UK/US;
- Leslie's Pool Supplies: the largest U.S. retailer of swimming pool supplies;
- De Post / La PosteBelgian Post GroupBpost is the Belgian company responsible for the delivery of mail, national and international. The Belgian Post Group is one of the largest civilian employers in Belgium...
: the Belgian postal services operator; - UnivarUnivarUnivar is a leading global distributor of industrial and specialty chemicals, with an extensive network of over 170 distribution facilities in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America, as well as additional sales offices in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.The...
: the largest chemical distribution company in the US and Europe; - C1000C1000C1000 is a Dutch supermarket chain. Founded in 1981, as of the end of 2011 the chain had 419 stores and employed 32,000 people. Its market share was 13.2% and growing....
: Dutch supermarketSupermarketA supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
chain
Asia-Pacific
CVC's current Asia Pacific portfolio includes:- Zhuhai ZhongfuZhuhai ZhongfuZhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise Co., Ltd. engages in the production and supply of PET bottles in China. It offers PET bottles for soft drinks, mineral water, distill water, tea, and beer. The company’s products also include bottle labels, film, and packing paper boxes. Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise Co., Ltd....
: the largest PETPolyethylene terephthalatePolyethylene terephthalate , commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P, is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination...
bottler in China; - Nien Made: the world's largest window shutter manufacturer, based in Taiwan;
- Plantation Timber Products: a leading wood fibreboards producer in China;
- Nine Entertainment Co.: Australia's largest diversified media group;
- DCA Group: the largest diagnostic imaging center operator in Australia;
- Amtek: Singapore's largest precision metal components company;
- GS Paper and Packaging: Malaysia's largest paper and packaging company;
- Skylark: the largest restaurant operator in Japan;
- Minit Asia Pacific: the leading shoe repair and key cutting provider in Japan; and
- Shinwa Co.: the leading system scaffoldingScaffoldingScaffolding is a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes or tubes, although it can be from other materials...
supplier in Japan - Matahari: Indonesia's largest department storeDepartment storeA department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
chain - I-Med Network: Australia's largest radiologyRadiologyRadiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies to diagnose or treat diseases...
company