Debevoise lawyers advise on all types of private equity secondary transactions ...

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Contacts

Jane Engelhardt (New York)

Andrew J. Gershon (New York)

Gavin Anderson (London)

Katherine Ashton (London)

Thought Leadership

Featured Topic

Private Equity International: Opportunities Abound in Continuation Funds

Advised on all three “Secondaries Deals of the Year” in Europe

—Private Equity International Awards, 2023

Advised on the Secondaries Deal of the Year (CD&R / Belron)

—Buyouts Magazine Awards, 2022

Ranked as a leading law firm for global-wide capabilities in Investment Funds: Private Equity: Fund Formation by Chambers Global (2024). Also ranked as a Band 1 firm in the U.S. for Investment Funds & Asset Management (International & Cross-Border).

Debevoise has strong global presence and is able to create a seamless global team.

—Chambers Global, 2021-2024

Ranked in the top band for Private Equity: Secondaries in the U.S.

No matter is too complex, so we go to Debevoise for our highly complicated transactions.

Excellent attention to detail and they’re very knowledgeable about the market. It’s a strong team.

—Chambers USA, 2024

Ranked as a leading firm for Private Equity: Secondaries in the UK.

A solid firm in the private funds and secondaries space. They have a real feel for the market.

—Chambers UK, 2024

Ranked as a top-tier firm by both Chambers USA (2024) and The Legal 500 US (2024) for Private Equity Fund Formation.

Strong subject matter expertise and a deep bench of talent that is highly capable.

The team's abilities are first rate, they excel at analyzing complex matters and breaking them down into easily digestible components.

—Chambers USA, 2023-2024

They have been a market leader in fund formation for decades and … know just about every structure and investor’s demand.

Excellent all around. They are adept at running large multi-faceted and time sensitive matters efficiently and finding innovative solutions to client issues.

—The Legal 500 US, 2023-2024

Ranked as a leading firm in the UK for Private Funds and Private Equity Transactions.

Very strong secondary private equity capabilities, able to give best-in-class advice on structuring all type of complex secondary deals.

—The Legal 500 UK, 2021-2024

Ranked as a leading law firm in the UK for Investment Funds: Private Equity.

A solid firm in the private funds and secondaries space.

—Chambers UK, 2024

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Debevoise’s Private Fund Transactions Group is a cross-office, cross-practice team with significant experience on non-traditional, fund-related transactions involving funds and assets all over the world. The Group advises sponsors, secondary investors, limited partners, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and pension plan investors on a variety of private equity-focused investment strategies.Through its focused and efficient interdisciplinary teams, the Group offers deep market knowledge and creative, holistic solutions to issues encountered in these complex transactions.

Secondary Transactions and Liquidity Solutions: We are at the forefront of the rapidly growing secondaries market, and provide thoughtful and commercial advice to both sponsor and investor clients in a range of transactions, from traditional LP interest transfers and portfolio sales to complex GP-led fund restructurings, strip sales, GP-for-hire transactions and preferred equity solutions.

Co-investment Transactions: We have a deep understanding of co-investment programs and transactions from both the sponsor’s and the investor’s perspective. Our team regularly advises on co-investments involving major private equity sponsors in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, handling on average approximately 100 co-investment transactions per year, giving us an exceptionally wide view of market terms and their evolution.

GP/Manager Replacement: In recent years, we have worked on GP/manager replacement and removal transactions involving developed and developing markets fund managers, often triggered by governance-related reasons.

Special Situations: We bring our team’s depth and range of experience to bear on our clients’ most complicated and unprecedented transactions. Examples include advising TPG Growth in its takeover of the existing assets of the Abraaj Group’s $1 billion Global Healthcare Fund, and advising Glendower on a $530 million fundless sponsor transaction.

Investments in Investment Managers: We represent fund managers, staking funds and long-term capital investors in GP staking transactions.