CVC Capital Partners Ltd was able to raise Eur7 billion in just six months while Apax Partners LLP had used up fifteen months to raise Eur5.8 billion or US$7.5 billion for its next buyout fund. This is a sign investors are rewarding top performers in private equity funds in Europe.

According to an anonymous source with knowledge on the matter, Apax had closed its latest fund while CVC is expected to report on its fundraising efforts by next week. The results of these two firm's activities would be a microcosm of the differing results of the five largest buyout firms in Europe. It is projected that the firms would net about Eur25 billion in their latest fundraising rounds, which rounds up as a little more than half of what they had raised prior to the 2008 financial crisis.

In an interview by the managing director and global co-head of the private funds group at UBS AG, James Monroe, "The reality is that limited partners have insufficient liquidity to recommit all their existing relationships. This is particularly the case when it comes to funds operating in the larger end of the market where the majority of capital was raised pre-crisis. LPs are consolidating relationships."