The Europe 250
Ranking the largest private equity investors in Europe
2024 Edition
Executive Summary
Welcome to the second edition of our Europe 250 ranking report. In this report, we rank and analyze the largest and most active private equity (PE) investors in Europe. We take a novel approach to our ranking, which is based on total managed enterprise value (EV) in Europe. Ranking by managed EV rather than funds raised enables us to focus on investors' European portfolio, allowing us to delve deep into specific regions and sectors of investment. Furthermore, this approach helps us capture large investors who do not have traditional fundraising numbers and are often overlooked by other industry rankings.
CVC has emerged as the #1 investor in Europe, managing a total EV of approximately €70bn, followed by EQT (€61bn) and KKR (€60bn). Collectively, the top 250 investors manage an EV of €1.6tn. American and British investors dominate the Europe 250 ranking, with sponsors headquartered in those regions managing an EV of €420bn (26% share) and €373bn (23%) respectively. German-based investors are underrepresented despite it being the foremost economy in Europe, managing an EV of €54bn (3%).
American and British investors dominate the Europe 250 ranking, with sponsors headquartered in those regions managing an EV of €420bn (26% share) and €373bn (23%) respectively. German-based investors are underrepresented despite it being the foremost economy in Europe, managing an EV of €54bn (3%).
The Europe 250 landscape is fairly concentrated at the upper end with the top 25 investors managing 46% of the Europe 250 EV and the top 50 managing 66% of the EV. Investors established in the 1990s or before manage 75% of the total EV.
Leading the sector 50 rankings are CVC (Services, Industrials and Financials), EQT (Science & Health), KKR (Energy & Materials), Hg (TMT) and TDR Capital (Consumer). American and British investors switch between #1 and #2 positions across all sectors.
Leading the region 50 rankings are CVC (Nordics and CEE), Cinven (DACH and Iberia), TDR Capital (UK&I), F2i SGR (Italy), Ardian (France) and KKR (Benelux). UK & Ireland (UK&I) is the most international region, with 55% of EV in the region owned by North American and RoW investors.
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Authors
Chapter 01: Europe 250 Ranking
CVC has emerged as the leading investor in Europe, managing a total EV of approximately €70bn, followed by EQT (managing an EV of €61bn) and KKR (€60bn). CVC, EQT and KKR also feature as the top fundraisers globally. Other investors in the top 10 include GIC (€43bn), Blackstone (€36bn), Cinven (€34bn), Carlyle (€32bn), Ardian (€30bn), Advent International (€30bn) and Bain Capital (€29bn).
Collectively, the top 250 investors in Europe manage an estimated EV of €1.6tn. On average, they have a portfolio EBITDA of €49m and manage 22 companies.
Over the last 6 years, Europe 250 investors have invested in twice as many new portfolio companies as they have exited. Specifically, there have been approximately 5,405 new investments and 2,676 exits among these sponsors.
The table on the next page lists 20 of the top 250 investors.
Dominant Investor HQs
American and British investors dominate the Europe 250 ranking, with sponsors headquartered in those regions managing an EV of €420bn (26% share) and €373bn (23%) respectively. German-based investors are underrepresented despite it being the foremost economy in Europe, managing an EV of €54bn (3%). American, British and French investors lead the Europe 250 ranking by EV Managed and Count.
By EV Managed: US (€420bn), UK (€373bn), France (€203bn), Canada (€109bn), Sweden (€80bn), Netherlands (€59bn), Germany (€54bn), Singapore (€53bn).
By Count: France (47), UK (46), US (45), Germany (17), Netherlands (16), Italy (13), Luxembourg (9), Canada (8).
Dominant Investor Cities
London, Paris and New York remain top hubs for PE investors. Largest HQ cities by # of Europe 250 investors: London (44), Paris (37), New York (21), Munich (10), Luxembourg (9), Milan (9), Boston (7), Stockholm (7), Madrid (6), Amsterdam (6), Copenhagen (5). By city, London remains the main hub for Europe 250 investors, followed by Paris, New York and Munich. These 3 metropolises constitute ~40% of all HQs and are followed by the long tail of other large European and North American cities with a single-digit number of HQs.
Top 3 Investor by HQ
Stockholm-based EQT Group, Amsterdam-headquartered Waterland and Baar-headquartered group stand out as notable firms within the Europe 250 that are situated outside the US, UK or France.
Portfolio Differences: North American vs. European Investors
North American investors account for 33% of EV managed and 21% of investors. North American investors are larger in size compared to their European counterparts. They manage 33% of Europe 250 EV but hold only 21% of the spots. Moreover, their average portfolio EBITDA is 3x that of their European peers (€102m vs. €30m).
Regional Differences: North American vs. European Investors
In comparison to their European counterparts, North American investors typically allocate a greater portion of assets to the UK and Italy. Conversely, they allocate fewer investments to the Nordics, Benelux and French regions, where there is stiff competition from regional European investors.
Sector Differences: North American vs. European Investors
By sector, North American investors invest more in TMT while being underweight in Services. They overweight TMT (25% vs 18%), Financials (7% vs 4%) and Energy & Materials (8% vs 4%) while being underweight in Services (17% vs 25%), Consumer (15% vs 18%) and Science & Health (9% vs 11%). The localized nature of the Services and Healthcare sectors, smaller company sizes, localized regulatory regimes and often (cross-border) M&A value creation stories make it somewhat harder for North American investors to execute many deals in this sector.
Investor Concentration
The Europe 250 landscape is fairly concentrated at the upper end with the top 25 investors managing 46% of the Europe 250 EV and the top 50 managing 66% of the EV. The top investors in Europe invest quite broadly across sectors and geographies, facilitated by offices in multiple cities. Top 25 investors manage ~€754bn EV (46%) and Top 50 investors manage €1.05tn EV (66%) out of €1,600bn.
EV Managed by Decade
Investors established in the 1990s or before manage 75% of total EV. Achieving greatness takes time, and this is evidenced by the distribution of managed EV based on investors' founding year. All the top 10 investors in our Europe 250 ranking were also found during or before the 1990s.
Chapter 02: Sector 50 Rankings
TMT
Industrials
Services
Consumer
Science & Health
Energy & Materials
Financials
Top 3 Investors by Sector
Leading the sector 50 rankings are the top Europe 250 investors CVC (Services, Industrials and Financials), EQT (Science & Health) and KKR (Energy & Materials). Notable exceptions include Hg in TMT and TDR Capital in Consumer, whose investment strategies predominantly target these sectors, representing 72% and 63% of their assets, respectively.
Dominant Investor HQs
American and British investors take the top spots across all sectors. European investors hold majority shares in terms of the managed EV in Science & Health (72%), Services (66%), Consumer (66%) and TMT (49%). On the other hand, Financials, Industrials and Energy & Materials are leaning towards North American investors (49%, 49%, and 48% respectively).
European investors hold majority shares in terms of the managed EV in Science & Health, Services, Consumer and TMT. On the other hand, Financials, Industrials and Energy & Materials are leaning towards North American investors.
Sponsor Consolidation
Energy & Materials and Financials emerge as the most concentrated sectors in terms of investor ownership, with the top 5 investors accounting for roughly 60% of their respective sector 50 EV (59% and 57% respectively). Conversely, Services and TMT exhibit a broader investor base (Top 5 holding 27% and 29%), with multiple investors participating across assets of varying sizes.
Chapter 03: Region 50 Rankings
UK&I
DACH
Benelux
France
Nordics
Italy
Iberia
CEE
Top 3 Investors by Region
UK investors take the top spot in 5 regional rankings (UK&I, Nordics, Iberia, DACH and CEE) with CVC and Cinven bagging the #1 spot twice. Regional sponsors lead in Italy (F2i SGR) and France (Ardian), while the Benelux region is dominated by American investors (KKR, Blackstone and Carlyle).
Portfolio Cities
PE investors invest quite broadly across various European cities and towns, with London, Paris, Stockholm and Amsterdam being the leading centers. This trend can be explained by investors' focus on Services, TMT and Consumer companies which are usually headquartered in large cities. In the DACH region, investments are distributed across the major hubs of Munich, Berlin and Hamburg instead of being concentrated in a single city. Large metro cities: London (6.2%), Paris (3.3%), Stockholm (1.6%), Amsterdam (1.4%), Milano (1.3%).
Dominant Investor HQs
American and British investors are among the top 3 across all regions in terms of managed EV. However, French and Benelux markets remain owned by their indigenous investors, while Swedish, Italian, Spanish and Polish investors emerge as the runners-up in their respective domestic regions.
UK & Ireland is the most internationalized region in terms of investor interest, with 55% of EV in the region owned by North American and RoW sponsors. Further, regions such as CEE, Nordics and France are the least penetrated by international investors, which can be explained by the mix of the strong position of domestic investors (e.g. France) and more limited investor interest in other regions (e.g. CEE).
Sponsor Consolidation
The most consolidated regions in terms of investor ownership are Iberia, Italy and Nordics. The top 5 investors in those regions account for over 40% of their regional managed EV (Iberia 47%, Italy 46%, Nordics 41%). On the other end, France and UK&I are the least consolidated regions with top 5 investors accounting for only 27% and 28% of managed EV, respectively.
Chapter 04: Portfolio Insights
Sector Split
In this section, we explore the investment portfolios of the top 30 PE investors in Europe, analyzing key metrics such as growth rates, profitability, leverage, buy-and-build initiatives and the sector/regional makeup of their European investment. The portfolio for the top investors in Europe is quite diversified with no sector in particular accounting for more than 50% of their assets, except for 4 investors: TDR Capital (Consumer), Hg (TMT), Macquarie Asset Management (Energy & Materials) and PAI Partners (Consumer).
Regional Split
The UK&I stands out as the primary investment destination for top investors in Europe, closely followed by DACH and France. At the investor level, distinctive strategies start to emerge, with Ardian's focus on the French market (59%), TDR Capital's specialization in the UK (69%) and Triton's emphasis on the Nordics (37%) and DACH regions (37%).
Portfolio EBITDA
GIC, TDR Capital, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and CPP Investments stand out for their exceptionally high average portfolio EBITDA figures. These substantial numbers might not only signify a preference for larger-ticket investments but also underscore the operational excellence of their portfolio companies.
Revenue Growth
Hg, Partners Group, GIC, Bridgepoint, Mubadala and CVC are among the investors with fastest growing portfolios. The leading position of Hg might be explained by the investor's focus on high-growth software SMEs, combined with significant buy-and-build activities of its portfolio companies. In contrast, the runner-up, Partners Group, invests in assets across all sectors, ranging from car park operators to dermatological treatment products.
EBITDA Margin
Macquarie AM, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Hellman & Friedman, CPP Investments and Hg are among the investors with the highest median portfolio EBITDA margins. Macquarie and OTPP are well established in the Infrastructure and Energy sectors which are characterized by high margins, giving them leading positions. On the other side of the spectrum is TDR Capital which often acquires assets in lower-margin sectors such as leisure, retail, hotel, restaurant and catering businesses.
Leverage
CVC, Blackstone, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Ardian and Triton are among the firms with the least leverage in their portfolios. Their portfolios are diversified sector-wise and are strongly penetrated by the portcos operating in asset-light industries such as Consumer, Services and TMT. Furthermore, the most leveraged investors are Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and OMERS which own large asset-heavy companies operating in Energy, Logistics, Manufacturing and Infrastructure sectors.
Buy-and-Build Activity
Hg, BC Partners, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, CPP Investments and ICG are among the investors with the highest buy-and-build activity in their portfolio. Hg is focused on SMEs in fragmented markets with vast buy-and-build opportunities, with the majority of its assets engaging in M&A. On the other side of the spectrum, we have Allianz Capital Partners investing in assets operating in Energy, Telecom and Infrastructure with much fewer M&A opportunities.
Glossary
Benelux: Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
CEE: Central and Eastern Europe
DACH: Deutschland (Germany), Austria and Confœderatio Helvetica (Switzerland)
EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
EV: Enterprise value
HQ: Headquarters
Iberia: Portugal and Spain
M&A: Mergers and acquisitions
Nordics: Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden
PE: Private equity
SMEs: Small and medium-sized enterprises
UK&I: United Kingdom and Ireland
US: United States
Methodology
We take a novel approach to our ranking, which is based on total managed enterprise value (EV) in Europe. At Gain.pro, we track over 8,700 investor portfolios in detail. We calculate the total managed EV by multiplying the number of European portfolio companies by the average portfolio EBITDA and a predicted EBITDA multiple. EV Managed (Estimated) = # of portfolio companies in Europe * Avg. EBITDA * Predicted EBITDA Multiple.
# of portfolio companies in Europe: We only consider buyout and minority-owned assets. We exclude any VC investments and publicly listed securities. We also adjust for ownership share, assigning 75% ownership share for any majority investments and 25% share for minority investments.
Average EBITDA: We only include companies with a positive EBITDA and cap the metric for any outliers.
Predicted EBITDA multiple: We leverage the company's sector, size, growth rate, margin profile and cash generation to predict its EBITDA multiple.
Further, we exclude any inactive investors from the Europe 250 ranking with i) <5 portfolio companies in Europe; ii) <5 entries since 2018 and iii) <3 positive portfolio EBITDA values. For the sector and regional rankings, we exclude investors with i) <3 portfolio companies in that sector/region; ii) <3 entries in that sector/region since 2018 and iii) <2 positive portfolio EBITDA values.
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