CVC announces Amsterdam IPO; Has stakes in Breitling, French & Spanish football leagues

Investment company CVC Capital Partners is headed to the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange in an initial public offering that looks to raise at least 1.25 billion euros. The company manages over 186 billion euros in investments, with ties to Breitling, top football in France and Spain, and the Lipton tea brand.

A successful IPO would put Luxembourg company’s valuation at 13 to 15 billion euros. The IPO could begin in the coming weeks, though market uncertainty and downward trends could lead to a delay. A possible IPO was previously delayed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, and the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip last October.

CVC Capital Partners owns the luxury Swiss watch brand, Breitling, and has invested two billion euros in Spanish professional football’s top La Liga. The company also invested 1.4 billion euros in Ligue 1, the French top football tier, to take a stake in the league’s media rights business.

The firm recently acquired Ekaterra, the former tea division at Unilever. That 4.5 billion euro deal included the brands, Lipton, Tazo and Pukka, as well as 11 factories and three estates. CVC also owns cosmetics chain Douglas, which was floated as an independent company on the Frankfurt stock exchange last month.

This raised 890 million euros, though CVC had hoped for 1.1 billion euros. CVC maintained majority control over Douglas.

For the Amsterdam IPO, CVC will sell off some shares owned by existing investors, and will also sell new shares worth roughly 250 million euros. Participation from both ABN Amro and ING Bank is expected.

The private equity firm was founded almost 45 years ago, and now employs close to 1,200 people. CVC Capital Partners operates more than two dozen global offices.