PRIVATE INVESTMENT FUNDS
Our private investment funds practice provides a wide scope of interdisciplinary investment fund services to support a broad range of investment platforms, including emerging, small and mid-sized hedge funds, private equity, real estate, art and venture capital funds. Our team’s extensive knowledge and experience enables us to support our fund clients through the entire fund lifecycle, from formation and structuring, capital raising, portfolio transactions through conclusion of finite-life funds. Our experience in formation and structuring of private funds provides us with a unique perspective in our representation of private fund investors when reviewing and negotiating investor agreements.
A Recognized Name in the Funds World
We are intimately familiar with the private funds space from the perspective of sponsor groups and investors. We have launched numerous funds, and are a recognized name among institutional investors, family offices and fund service providers. We routinely represent funds and institutional investors in seed or anchor investments, and family offices in connection with their investment platforms. Our vast experience provides us with a superior understanding of investor pressure points in today's fund-raising environment.
Our Experience
Our fund lawyers have been engaged to advise clients on:
- Forming private investment funds of all sizes and investment strategies, including buyout funds, growth equity funds, middle market funds, infrastructure funds, real estate funds, debt funds, funds-of-funds, secondary funds, special situations funds and hedge funds;
- Establishing sponsor structures (including negotiating investment professionals’ exits from prior employers) and advising on their operation, regulation and internal governance arrangements, including strategic issues such as succession planning, monetization alternatives, the admission of new firm partners and separation matters;
- Representing private funds in connection with investments in, or acquisition/disposition of, portfolio companies;
- Representing private investment funds in the structuring, documentation, and negotiation of a wide variety of debt investments in portfolio companies;
- Advising on the acquisition and sale of minority and majority stakes in fund sponsors as well as spinouts of fund businesses and management teams;
- Creating carried interest and employee co-investment schemes and advising on executive incentivization and retention arrangements; and
- Representing U.S. and non-U.S. institutional investors, including major pension funds, in connection with their investments in funds and participation in co-investments and other related transactions with sponsors.
We represent sponsors and sophisticated investors in:
- Private equity funds
- Hedge funds
- Real estate funds
- International funds
- Energy/infrastructure funds
- Credit funds (including mezzanine, senior loan and distressed)
- Secondary funds / fund-of-funds
- Growth and venture capital funds
- Other types of funds pursuing “alternative investment” strategies
A Single Source for Legal Services
Our work is supported by a complement of securities, corporate, partnership and limited liability company, tax and ERISA lawyers available to tackle the most complicated structural issues in a practical and timely manner. Our interdisciplinary approach also leverages our transactional expertise in areas such as mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic investments, portfolio structuring, equity and debt offerings, secured and structured financings, reorganizations, recapitalizations and restructurings and other transactions. In addition, we actively monitor regulatory and tax developments that affect your business and maintain a network of relationships with service providers that provides a robust information pipeline with up-to-date intelligence on best practices and trends. As a result, many of our fund clients benefit from a highly efficient suite of legal services, including:
Fund Related Issues:
- Fund formation of open-ended funds, closed-ended funds, international funds, managed accounts and funds-of-one
- Capital raising including securities offerings and key investor negotiation including side letters
- Equity and debt investments in portfolio companies
- Real estate transactions and regulatory support
- Alternative investment vehicles including side car funds, joint venture and co-investor transactions
- US income tax issues
- SEC and Blue Sky
- Valuation and allocation questions
- Portfolio company advisory and governance matters
- Restructurings and reorganizations of portfolio companies and creditors’ rights
Management Company Issues:
- Ongoing regulatory reporting and compliance advice
- Cybersecurity, data privacy and other data security matters
- Review of marketing materials
- Placement agency and broker-dealer issues
- Human resources and personnel matters
- Employee compensation structures and profit-sharing plans
- Enterprise tax concerns, as well as personal planning and succession matters
- IT, software and other third-party vendor arrangements
- Risk assessment, D&O and other insurance