A record July for European private equity, say European private equity firms.
EQT, CVC, Bridgepoint and Partners Group all found a record to announce. The share prices, the statutory accounts and the gated evergreen funds tell a more European story.
Over three weeks in July, Europe's four big listed private markets firms reported results, and each found a record to put in the first paragraph. EQT returned close to 17 billion euros to investors. CVC realised a record 23.8 billion euros over twelve months. Bridgepoint sent back a record 16.6 billion euros. Partners Group raised a record 16 billion dollars. A fine month. Then you read on.
EQT (17 July) had the best headlines and the softest engine. The beat came from carried interest and investment income; fee-related revenue actually fell 1% and fee-related EBITDA fell 7%, with the margin down four points to 50%. The Galderma sell-down produced the largest sponsor-backed block trade on record and $20 billion of gains from a single fund, which is proper work. But the flagship EQT XI stood at only half its 23 billion euro target at first close, a detail analysts on the call chewed at some length, and neither flagship activates fees until late this year. Per Franzén says EQT is taking market share. Perhaps. The fee machine says the market is smaller than the confidence.
CVC (30 July) beat expectations, grew EBITDA 12% and can fairly claim Europe's best exit engine: realisations up 79% over twelve months at 2.8 times gross. The catch is timing. Fund X, the next flagship, does not launch for six months and will not switch on fees until the first half of 2028, and performance-fee guidance for 2026 is flat against 2025. Management's own phrase for the good bit was a "step-up in earnings in 2028". Shareholders, who watched the stock hit an all-time low in March, are being asked to wait two years for the record exits to reach the P&L.
Bridgepoint (17 July) grew underlying EBITDA 78%, and statutory profit fell 29%. Both sentences are true; only one made the headline. The gap is deal costs and amortisation from the Kayne Anderson acquisition, plus the widest adjusted-versus-reported wedge in this peer group: 15.5p of underlying earnings per share against 2.6p reported. Of the record 16.6 billion euros returned, 11 billion came from one deal, ECP's sale of Calpine. And the flagship buyout fund's final close has slipped to early 2027. The shares remain below their 2021 float price, which is its own kind of honest reporting.
