CVC Capital Partners reports record €21.9 billion in realisations for 2025 amid strong fundraising

CVC Capital Partners reported a banner year of realisations in 2025, returning an unprecedented €21.9 billion to investors across private equity, secondaries and infrastructure, the firm said in its full‑year materials. Private equity accounted for the lion’s share of that total, with €19.5 billion realised , a 77 percent rise on the €11 billion recorded in 2024 , underscoring a marked acceleration in exit activity over the last 12 months.

According to CVC’s earnings presentation and a company activity update, the firm generated €23 billion of gross inflows during the year and maintained fee‑paying assets under management of €148 billion as at 31 December 2025. Management is projecting further growth: earnings materials state a target of €200 billion FPAUM by December 2028, while the group’s wider assets under management were reported at about €205 billion by industry observers.

Chief executive Rob Lucas told investors that the strong realisation run should support the marketing of the next buyout flagship, Fund X, which the firm plans to launch in the first quarter of 2027. “Over the past four years, we have now returned 30 percent more capital to our clients than we’ve deployed,” Lucas said on the earnings call, arguing that that track record differentiates CVC versus many peers and positions it well for fundraising. Lucas added that early investor discussions point to a flagship that will be at least the size of its predecessor.

Fundraising momentum has already been visible in the firm’s secondaries franchise. According to reporting by Secondaries Investor and CVC, Glendower Secondary Opportunities Fund VI has so far raised more than $8 billion, exceeding an initial $7 billion target, with a final close expected by the end of summer 2026.

CVC’s exit mix reflected a predominance of private sales: the company’s materials show approximately 46 percent of 2025 private equity cash returns came from sponsor sales, 35 percent from strategic buyers and roughly 5 percent from IPOs and public market sell‑downs. Over the past four years the firm says it has collected €46 billion in private equity gross proceeds, with UK and Nordic investments each representing around 15 percent of that sum. Sector breakdowns in the materials highlighted healthcare as the single largest contributor at 16 percent, with financial services and consumer assets each supplying about 15 percent.

Performance metrics published by market analysts further illustrated the strength of exits. Industry reporting indicated private equity realisations achieved a 3.2x gross multiple of invested capital and a 23 percent gross internal rate of return for the period, figures that would signal robust value creation for investors.

Deployment patterns were more mixed. CVC invested €25.7 billion across its platforms in 2025, but private equity deployment fell to €9.7 billion , down 27 percent from €13.3 billion a year earlier , while credit, secondaries and infrastructure saw modest increases in activity, according to the company’s year‑end materials.

The firm also addressed investor concerns about tech disruption, particularly the potential impact of artificial intelligence on software assets. Lucas emphasised a deliberately cautious stance towards software investments, noting a 7 percent exposure “across the business” and reiterating a disciplined diversification policy. “We have always been very cautious and highly selective [around] software. That’s why our level of exposure is as low as it is, at 7 percent across the business,” he said. The theme of limited software exposure has been echoed by other managers this reporting season; Partners Group’s chief executive said the firm’s software weight is below 2 percent of AUM and that leadership felt comfortable with that positioning.

Financially, industry commentary and filings put further colour on CVC’s operating results for the year. Market reporting showed management fees increased and EBITDA rose, with one industry note citing management fees of roughly €1.5 billion and EBITDA near €1.1 billion for 2025, while inflows across institutional, private wealth and insurance clients were highlighted as a key contributor to the firm’s momentum.

While CVC has celebrated an exceptional year of realisations and continued fundraising traction, the firm’s own materials make clear it is balancing liquidity generation with selective reinvestment: the board and management are steering deployment into areas where they see durable earnings and resilience, even as they prepare to test investor appetite for a large new flagship fund in 2027.