CVC gears up for sixth fund as it eyes water utilities assets
PRIVATE equity giant CVC Capital Partners is set to push on with its sixth fund raising venture after testing the water with investors for a new €11bn (£8.9bn) fund.
The firm, which owns Formula One and is co-owner of AA and Saga parent company Acromas, is soliciting investor interest for a successor to its CVC European Fund V, it is understood.
The new fund, CVC European Fund VI, is of similar size to the €10.7bn the company managed to raise for number V fund in 2008 – despite a tougher fundraising environment this time around.
CVC is still mulling drawing down funds raised for its V vehicle.
It is understood the group, which makes minimum investments of $150m, is one of the final bidders in the race to take over Sutton and East Surrey Water from Icon Infrastructure.
It is thought Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo is also in the running.
CVC, which is one is Europe’s biggest private equity firms with offices around the world, follows a lead set by its peer Permira, which is currently aiming to raise €6.5bn for a new fund.
The fundraising mood has been buoyed recently by the close on the biggest private equity fund raised since the 2008 financial crisis, when Advent International announced it had raised $10.8bn (£6.73bn) for its seventh fund on November 12.
CVC declined to comment.