CVC Capital Partners' institutional backers plan to sell shares in the buyout group as part of its upcoming initial public offering, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The company is preparing to raise more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) in what is set to be one of Europe's largest stock market listings this year, the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The IPO, which could be launched in Amsterdam before the end of the month, will include a mix of new and existing shares, they said. CVC targets an IPO that would value the company at more than 10 billion euros, the people said, with the company placing around 10% of its share capital, one of the people said.
Reuters could not establish which of CVC's external shareholders – which include Blue Owl (OWL.N), Singapore's GIC, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Kuwait Investment Authority – are seeking to sell shares.
The private equity firm's partners are not expected to sell stock through the IPO, the people said.
However, no final decision has been made, and the plans may be altered or dropped, they said.
Blue Owl, CVC, GIC and HKMA declined to comment. KIA did not respond to a request for comment.
CVC is pressing on with the plans even though market conditions have led other European companies in recent weeks to postpone going public, including German defence contractor Renk and French software firm Planisware.
On-road payments provider DKV Mobility, in which CVC has a minority holding, decided to defer its IPO plans because of volatile markets, Reuters reported earlier this month.
CVC is the latest European buyout group to attempt an IPO, following the lead of rivals like EQT (EQTAB.ST) and Bridgepoint (BPTB.L).
London-headquartered CVC, which oversees more than 160 billion euros in assets, is striving to transform itself into a diversified asset manager.
Last month, it announced a deal to acquire infrastructure manager DIF, and last year, it completed a tie-up with secondaries manager Glendower.
Market conditions have made it hard for private equity firms to raising new funds and sell existing investments, but CVC managed to buck the fundraising slump earlier this year when it raised the world's largest buyout fund at 26 billion euros.
The company was widely reported to have been valued at around $15 billion when it agreed to sell a minority stake to Blue Owl in 2021.
($1 = 0.9489 euros)
