Most reputable and best performing PE / Growth Equity / VC firms in Europe

A lot of information on this forum is extremely focused on the US. I have heard from many friends that the London offices of several well-known prestigious US funds have a very different position than in the US. I've heard of US MFs where the deal flow in Europe is quite bad, with deals being run from the US and the London office just acting as a support function. 

As a first-year analyst in IB looking to switch to PE in London, I would love to know which PE / Growth Equity / VC firms have the best reputation and performance from a European perspective. Thankful for any input.

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Just to kick off with some names (and to your point, the "who's who" of many US firms like KKR, etc., are in Europe and reputable / well-performing too), some more EU-focused names would be:

Benelux / France: CVC, Ardian,PAI

UK:Bridgepoint, Apax, Cinven, Permira, BC Partners

Nordics: EQT (and Nordic Capital, but they're smaller)

DACH: Partners, Triton, Capvis(?)

Italy and Spain: Less familiar, but maybe InvestIndustrial

These are just the larger names, but there's of course a much longer list of MM funds. Size and prestige (rightly or wrongly) tend to get used interchangeably.

 

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