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Europe’s largest private equity group, CVC Capital Partners, has announced plans to pursue an IPO on Amsterdam’s Euronext, in a major blow to the London Stock Exchange. Established in 1981, CVC has maintained a significant London presence since its spin-off from global banking giant Citicorp in 1993, with London being the former’s main office. According to its , CVC now has assets worth £92 billion under management and £125 billion of funds committed. Its noteworthy holdings include shares in the Six Nations rugby tournament, Teneco, and Unilever’s tea business. At the time of writing, CVC is also in talks with France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel to acquire 13% of its media rights.  

The notoriously secretive company is yet to confirm any details of its IPO, including a proposed timetable. However, it is likely that the timing of the listing will be impacted by  the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has had significant ramifications on European markets (for more on this topic see ), and has seen IPO deal volume significantly slow down. According to Market Tracker data for March 2022, the London Stock Exchange has only had two companies admitted to trading this month at the time of writing. In contrast, nine companies were admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange during the same period in 2021.

Private equity firms have often been hesitant to pursue IPOs due to concerns around public company regulations, though CVC competitor Bridgepoint Group plc’s decision to pursue admission to the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market in July 2021 may have marked a turning point. Bridgepoint was the first private equity firm to list in London since 1994, and its flotation was a clear success. On its first day of trading, shares soared 29% and far surpassed its of £2.88bn, reaching £3.98bn.

CVC’s rumoured decision to pursue an Amsterdam listing as opposed to one in London will place further pressure on the London Stock Exchange to assess what else it could do to make itself an attractive listing location. Should CVC confirm London is not in the running, it would be the second major IPO by a company with a strong UK presence to reject listing in London in 2022. Following the collapse of SoftBank Group’s sale of Cambridge-based chip designer Arm Holdings plc to US tech company Nvidia Corporation in February 2022, SoftBank they will pursue a listing of Arm, likely in the US. What remains clear is that the January 2022 changes to the Listing Rules (see Practice Note: (a subscription to Lexis®PSL Corporate is required)) have yet to succeed in incentivising companies to list in London.

Market Tracker will continue to monitor this transaction as it develops.