About CVC

• Founded: 1981

• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

• AUM: Approximately $186bn as of 2024

• Strategy: Diversified private equity, including buyouts, credit, and secondaries

• Track record: CVC's fifth secondaries fund closed at $7.5bn in 2021, surpassing its $6bn target. The firm's secondaries platform has completed over 200 transactions since inception.

• Leadership: Founding partners include Donald Mackenzie and Rolly van Rappard; current managing partners include Steve Koltes and Jamil Baz

CVC is targeting a third-quarter close for its sixth secondaries fund. The firm's fifth vehicle closed at $7.5bn in 2021, making it one of the largest dedicated secondaries funds at the time. The new fund's size has not been disclosed, though the Q3 timeline suggests marketing is well advanced. CVC's secondaries platform focuses on LP portfolio acquisitions and GP-led continuation vehicles across buyout, credit, and infrastructure strategies.

The Q3 timeline aligns with a broader compression in secondaries fundraising cycles. Coller Capital closed its ninth fund at $11bn in March 2024 after an 18-month marketing period, while Lexington Partners IX closed at $22.7bn in February 2024. CVC's target date suggests the firm is navigating sustained LP demand for secondaries exposure — allocations to the strategy have held steady even as traditional buyout fundraising slowed through 2023 and early 2024. The question is whether LPs are reserving capital for mega-funds like CVC's or spreading commitments across emerging managers entering the secondaries market.

The firm's track record positions it to capitalize on GP-led deal flow, which accounted for roughly 55% of secondaries volume in 2023 according to Jefferies data. CVC's dual capability — buying LP stakes and anchoring continuation vehicles — gives it optionality as sellers increasingly structure transactions with preferred pricing for funds that can deploy across both formats. Watch whether the fund's final size exceeds the $7.5bn predecessor, which would signal CVC is gaining wallet share in a market where secondaries fundraising has outpaced overall private equity fundraising growth since 2020.

Source: Secondaries Investor