Investment Funds: Private Equity

Fried Frank frequently advises clients on fund formation matters across a broad spectrum of asset classes. The team is adept at advising on a wide array of fund work, from fundraisings and acquisitions to secondary investments and co-investments. The London office is able to leverage the firm's strong New York funds offering to advise its client base of European alternative asset managers and private equity sponsors.

"The knowledge of the team is extensive across the industry. The team always respond and meet the tight deadlines and short turnarounds that we impose. This is also not done to the detriment of the output. We feel that Fried Frank really understand where we are and what will benefit us and will advise us accordingly."

"Fried Frank are our go-to counsel for fund work. The team, led by Kate Downey, is incredibly strong in every way. They are great partners to us and we feel lucky to have them."

"An exceptional team that is able to handle complex and sophisticated matters."

"Fried Frank's strength is the absolute market knowledge they have, specifically on the funds side. Our firm views them as a market leader. Often, they seem ahead of the curve in terms of advice and questions we get from LPs."

Fried Frank acted as counsel to BlackRock on the formation and fundraising of Diversified Private Debt Fund with a total capital raise of GBP1.7 billion.

Kate Downey advises leading asset managers on the formation of global and Europe-focused private equity, debt, infrastructure and real estate funds. "Kate is super knowledgeable and really, really commercial: more so than anyone else I can think of in the UK investment funds market. She's highly respected by GPs." "Kate is a brilliant lawyer and we feel very lucky to work with her." "An amazing lead partner who is strong commercially and personally." "I cannot praise Kate Downey any higher. She is an extremely practical, pragmatic and calm problem solver. Kate has a special ability to cut through a lot of confusion and noise in a room and to boil it all down to the real nub of the question. She gets the commercial context." "A seriously phenomenal lawyer."

Mark Mifsud is hailed for his longstanding expertise in the formation of private equity and infrastructure funds "His knowledge and expertise is second to none. He is also a great person to work with and makes legal processes much easier and more enjoyable." "Mark is excellent. He's curious, he wants to understand what you are ultimately trying to do and will provide advice on that basis." "A key figure in the funds industry."

Sam Wilson represents a broad spectrum of clients in the pan-European private equity funds space, from first-time entrants to longstanding managers. He is recognised for his expertise in fund formation and launches. "Sam is very highly thought of by clients." "Sam is technically very, very good. He's a very reasonable operator and a pleasure to work opposite." "Sam is extremely calm and graceful under pressure. He's always a gentleman: professional, incisive and detailed. At the end of the day, he gets the answers right in a way that internal counsel needs."