CVC acquires leading infrastructure manager DIF

September 5, 2023

This strategic acquisition provides CVC with a leading infrastructure platform, directly adjacent and highly complementary to its existing private equity, secondary and credit strategies. In addition, this acquisition accelerates the growth of DIF, which will continue to operate under the DIF brand and retain independence over its operations and investment decisions.

CVC, a leading global private markets manager focused on private equity, secondaries and credit is acquiring a majority stake in leading infrastructure manager, DIF Capital Partners, and providing a commitment to acquire the remaining shares over time. This combination creates a global private markets manager with seven complementary strategies and approximately €177 billion* of total assets under management.

DIF is headquartered in Amsterdam with €16 billion of assets under management, a team of over 225 professionals across 11 offices and operating two different investment strategies – the Core / Build-to-Core funds and the Core-plus funds. DIF was founded in 2005 and has built a leading position in mid-market infrastructure investments, primarily in Europe, North America and Australia. The tie-up with CVC will help accelerate growth, as DIF continues to deepen and widen both its investment capabilities, its geographic reach and its global investor base. DIF will continue to be led by its current CEO and Partners and it will continue to operate under the DIF brand.

Commenting on the transaction, CVC Chair and Co-Founder, Rolly van Rappard said: “Expanding into infrastructure is a logical next step for us, given the long-term secular growth trends in infrastructure and its adjacency to our existing strategies. We have known the DIF team for several years, and we are delighted to partner with one of the top pure-play global infrastructure managers, with an impressive track record of performance and growth.”

Rob Lucas, Managing Partner at CVC added: “We are excited to join forces with DIF, a top-performing global infrastructure manager. DIF’s business model and culture is deeply aligned with our local model, and our new infrastructure platform will prove highly complementary to our leading private equity, secondary and credit strategies. We are pleased to welcome Wim, the DIF Partners and the entire DIF team to the CVC group and together, we look forward to being a global leader in infrastructure.”

Wim Blaasse, CEO and Managing Partner at DIF said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with CVC, which is a natural step in the evolution of DIF and, together with my Partners, I look forward to leading DIF in this next phase of growth. We have known the CVC team for many years, we have been very impressed by everything they have built and we are excited about becoming part of the CVC group. This transaction enables us to benefit from CVC’s global platform, scale and investor relationships, and to double down on important infrastructure sectors like Energy Transition and Digitalisation while retaining independence over our investment decisions.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other consents and is expected to close in Q4 2023 or Q1 2024. The Dutch works council of DIF has been informed and positively advised on the transaction. Advisers to CVC in this transaction included JPMorgan. DIF’s advisers included, among others, Morgan Stanley & Co. Plc, Loyens & Loeff, PwC and De Brauw.