A return/realization multiple. In private equity, a measurement showing how much has been paid out to investors. A realization multiple is found by dividing the cumulative distributions by the paid-in capital. Return/Realization Multiple = Cumulative Distributions / Paid-In Capital (e.g. 2x means an investor or SPV received back two times the amount that it invested in an asset). An SPVs financial performance might be categorized as a 2x or 3x returning SPV.
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