CVC debuts on the stock exchange with shares worth 17 euros, above the initial offer – Stock Exchange

To the shares in the European private equity group CVC Capital Partners began trading this Friday at more than 17 euros, above the offer price of 14 euros, thus underlining the “strong investor appetite for this initial public offering” which was long awaited, reports the Financial Times.

The initial public offering of two billion euros was subscribed several times, CVC said in a statement cited by the FT. However, the total offer could further increase to 2.3 billion euros if an additional lot option is exercised in full.

CVC raised €250 million in capital through the issuance of 17.8 million new shares, while current shareholders – including co-founder Donald Mackenzie and sovereign wealth funds GIC, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Kuwait Investment Authority – are selling larger stakes in the business than initially planned, in order to increase the size of the offer. Already CVC co-founder and chairman Rolly Van Rappard and CEO Rob Lucas will not sell their shares. “We are delighted by the strong support given to the IPO, both from our current shareholders and new shareholders, and we welcome their confidence in our future,” Lucas said in a statement, adding: “The strength of demand means that We were able to significantly increase the size of the offering by more than 400 million euros, to two billion euros, providing additional liquidity to the market.”

A CVC, which manages 186 billion euros through investment strategies (such as credit acquisition, for example) faced a wait of several years to be able to go public, having been forced to postpone the operation twice following market turmoil.

Founded more than three decades ago by a group of former Citibank executives, CVC has become one of the largest and most respected private equity firms in Europe. The group has stakes in companies such as Lipton Teas and Infusions and watchmaker Breitling. CVC has also been a major investor in sports, having invested in the Spanish football league La Liga and the Six Nations rugby tournament. Last year, CVC raised €26.5 billion for the largest buyout fund ever recorded and also closed a €1 billion deal to buy infrastructure company DIF Capital Partners.