CVC Capital Partners: the €205B European giant buying into Indian healthcare, cricket and BPO

CVC Capital Partners is a "leading global private markets manager", in its own words — "truly global, always local". Founded in 1981 from the European arm of Citicorp Venture Capital, it has grown into a 30-office network across EMEA, the Americas and Asia, and listed on Amsterdam's Euronext (AEX) in 2024 as CVC Capital Partners plc. Its press materials report around €205B in assets under management, with commitments above €243B across its strategies. CEO Rob Lucas runs the firm, with founder Rolly van Rappard as co-chair.

CVC's deal DNA is the management buyout, and it has raised some of the largest funds in European history — including a €26B global private-equity fund in 2023, the largest-ever at the time. Beyond large buyouts, it operates seven complementary strategies: Europe/Americas and Asia private equity, the CVC Catalyst mid-market fund (its third vintage, CVC Catalyst III, closed at about €3.0B in 2026 against a €1.75B target, writing equity cheques below €250M), CVC Growth, secondaries through CVC Secondary Partners (around €17B in assets), credit, and infrastructure following its 2023 acquisition of DIF Capital Partners (about €16B in assets).

India came late but memorably. CVC opened its Mumbai office in 2017, with Siddharth Patel relocating from London as the Managing Partner leading the India and Asia technology-media-telecom teams (he is now based in Singapore). Its debut India deal was UnitedLex in 2018. The two deals that put CVC on India's map both involved household names. In 2020, CVC Asia V invested in Healthcare Global Enterprises (HCG), the cancer-care chain; in February 2025 CVC agreed to sell up to a 54% stake to KKR for up to $400M at ₹445 per share. And in 2021 it acquired the Gujarat Titans IPL franchise, selling 67% to the Torrent Group in February 2025 while retaining 33%.

Globally the showcase portfolio spans Breitling and A Bathing Ape in consumer, Six Nations Rugby in sports and media, and EcoVadis in technology; historically it owned Formula One from 2005 to 2017. In India it also backed Century Enka and, as of early 2026, was reported in exclusive talks to acquire Hyderabad's ValueLabs at $1–1.2B — a deal that, if completed, would be among its largest in the country.

For Indian founders, CVC's profile is instructive: selective, conviction-led, and comfortable in sectors — healthcare services, consumer, sports — that venture funds often avoid. Its India activity has accelerated since 2020, and its Asia fund platform gives it the balance-sheet muscle for large, negotiated deals.