CVC Capital Partners is exploring a bid to take security group Verisure private, just one year after rival Hellman & Friedman's initial public offering. Hellman & Friedman listed Verisure on the Stockholm exchange in October 2025 at a valuation of €13.7 billion, but shares are now trading approximately 30 percent below their IPO price. Despite the recent public listing, CVC's interest remains at an early stage with no certainty of a deal.
Verisure, originally formed as a unit of Sweden's Securitas group in 1988 and now based in Switzerland, was acquired by Hellman & Friedman and Bain Capital from EQT in 2011 at a valuation of €2.3 billion. The potential acquisition highlights ongoing private equity challenges in European markets, where higher interest rates and geopolitical volatility have weighed on valuations. Several recent IPOs, including HBX Group and others, have struggled post-listing, further dampening investor confidence.
As well as Verisure, Cinven-backed travel marketplace HBX Group has also struggled since its debut. While EQT's 2024 IPO of Galderma proved a notable exception, taking total proceeds to $26 billion, the broader environment favors buyout firms seeking to take advantage of discounted European valuations compared to the US. Last year KKR took UK instruments group Spectris private in a £4.7 billion deal after a bidding war with Advent.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing