CVC co-founder Donald Mackenzie set to net €150mn from public listing

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The public listing of European private equity firm CVC Capital Partners will net one of its co-founders, Donald Mackenzie, a windfall of up to €150mn.

Mackenzie, who recently stepped back from the company he founded more than 30 years ago, is expected to sell almost 10mn shares in the forthcoming initial public offering, according to a prospectus published by CVC on Monday.

If the shares are sold at the targeted value of between €13 and €15 a share, then Mackenzie will receive a payout of between €130mn and €150mn.

Other shareholders including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Kuwait Investment Authority and Singapore’s GIC will also sell down their stakes in business, the prospectus shows.

The share sale is part of a broader offering expected to be about €1.6bn, which will give CVC an implied market capitalisation of between €13bn and €15bn, the document states. 

The decision to announce pricing is the latest step towards a long-awaited initial public offering that has been twice delayed by difficult market conditions caused by the war in Ukraine and by the conflict in the Middle East. CVC announced its intention to float last week.

The IPO prospectus gives a rare insight into the ownership structure of one of Europe’s largest but most discreet buyout groups. Founded by a group including Mackenzie, Rolly Van Rappard and Steve Koltes, CVC has been gearing up to go public for more than two years.

During that time, both Mackenzie and Koltes have stepped back from the firm they built from a Citibank spinout into a €186bn global investment giant.

Mackenzie is the second-largest shareholder in the company with a 7 per cent stake, ranking behind US investment firm Blue Owl, which bought an 8 per cent share back in 2021.

After the expected share sale, Van Rappard, who will chair the listed entity, will overtake Mackenzie as the largest shareholder among the group’s founders, the filing document shows.