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European private equity group CVC has bought a majority stake in Dutch infrastructure investor DIF Capital Partners in a deal worth about €1bn in cash and shares, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The transaction will help CVC expand its range of investment strategies ahead of an expected initial public offering and give it a foothold in an infrastructure market expected to benefit from major structural changes including the energy transition.
The decision to acquire DIF comes as big private equity groups push into other asset classes, such as private credit and infrastructure.
Founded in 2005, DIF manages €16bn in assets and employs more than 200 people in 11 offices, according to its website. It invests across Europe, North America and Australia. Recent deals include a £200mn investment in UK battery storage developer Field.
This year, it appointed advisers to run a sale process, according to a person familiar with the details.
CVC’s biggest rivals — such as Blackstone and Apollo — are now diversified asset managers racing to increase the size of each of their investment strategies and deliver fee income streams to stock market investors.
Infrastructure has been a particularly lucrative area for some of CVC’s peers, including EQT, KKR and Brookfield, which have been able to raise a succession of ever larger funds to invest in these types of deals.
The DIF transaction signals CVC’s ambitions, coming weeks after it raised €26bn for the largest buyout fund in history. In recent years, it has also expanded into the market for second-hand fund stakes through its acquisition of Glendower Capital.
The Glendower deal helped win over DIF’s senior team. Post acquisition, Glendower’s management team retained its independence, a person familiar with the matter said, a model that will be replicated with DIF.
CVC has also been growing its credit business, which provides financing including for leveraged buyouts.
The Financial Times reported last month that CVC had revived plans for a multibillion-euro stock market listing that could take place before the end of the year.
The firm had previously put plans to go public on hold as market conditions deteriorated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bloomberg News reported CVC was in talks with DIF. CVC declined to comment. DIF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
JPMorgan is advising CVC on the deal, while DIF is advised by Morgan Stanley, according to three people involved.