Chambers Review
Provided by Chambers
Investment Funds: Private Equity - UK
What the Team is Known For
Debevoise & Plimpton has a strong private equity funds practice that is regularly called upon for large pan-European formations by managers, large secondary transactions for buyers or sellers, and complex alternative capital raises. Debevoise's funds team also has experience in acting for investors in private funds. Funds targeting assets in emerging markets continue to be a core focus for the department, which offers sponsors full compliance and tax advice for both the US and EU regulatory landscapes.
Strengths
The firm's partners have excellent knowledge of all of the main and nuanced negotiating points of a major fundraise and are very experienced in dealing with many of the world's top investors.
Debevoise & Plimpton have super-smart lawyers. Their fund lawyers are outstanding.
They are very responsive and provide a high level of service.
Debevoise & Plimpton are very clever, knowledgeable, good at advising, very responsive, and do it in a calm and collected way.
They go above and beyond, and their willingness to explain the process is second to none. They have cross-border expertise as well. They are super user-friendly, flexible and responsive.
Work Highlights
Regarding private equity, Debevoise & Plimpton advised Fitzwalter Capital regarding the raising of the client's Fitzwalter Capital Partners II fund to approximately USD1.4 billion.
Regarding credit funds, Debevoise & Plimpton assisted LCM Capital with the formation and fundraising of LCM Credit Opportunities 5.
Regarding secondaries, Debevoise & Plimpton acted as counsel to Pantheon Ventures as a lead investor alongside AlpInvest and TPG GP Solutions in a continuation fund sponsored by IK Partners regarding the purchase of Yellow Hive.
Notable practitioners
Geoffrey Kittredge is US-qualified and is able to advise clients on US regulatory and compliance issues, as well as European regulatory matters. He advises sponsors on the formation of international private equity and credit funds.
Geoff is extremely knowledgeable and experienced for all private equity matters and projects.
Geoffrey Kittredge is excellent.
He is the best private funds lawyer in Europe. He is a pre-eminent individual who has experience, commercial knowledge and excellent client care skills.
John is a fantastic lawyer. He is very strong, commercially focused and can quickly come up with solutions to complex or novel issues.
John Rife is a fantastic lawyer who is excellent technically.
John Rife is calm under pressure and often shares a lot of his market insights with us.
Shawn D'Aguiar is an incredible legal innovator. He has great knowledge. He deals with complex situations with grace and calmness.
Shadwn is diligent and thorough. He can leverage tax and regulatory cross-expertise.
He is a great motivator of junior team members. He has very astute technical and drafting skills. He can think on his feet very quickly.
Matthew Dickman enjoys a burgeoning practice in the private equity and secondaries spaces. He frequently advises both new entrants to the market and long-established European and US investment managers on flagship fund formation and launches.
Matthew is always a steady hand in complex deals, and his level-headed and calm approach helps focus the team and get to closing in a positive way with counterparties.
Matthew will find solutions when no one else can. His client management is really refreshing. His natural intelligence and client care are really strong.
Matthew is a superstar lawyer. His knowledge of all types of investment structures and the market terms is incredibly significant. He is super commercial and client-friendly.