Funds/Investment Management in Europe

In Europe, Debevoise remains a premier private equity firm, with its Funds practice one of the few to have senior English- and U.S.-qualified fund formation practitioners on the ground. Chambers Europe quotes one client as saying the team is “one of the market leaders in what we do,” while Chambers UK lauds the team’s ability to “guide clients through regulatory, tax, investment and fund-raising matters with aplomb.”

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Geoffrey Kittredge

Patricia Volhard

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European Private Equity Blog

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Recognised as a leading international law firm for having won 20 PEI Awards across North America, EMEA and Asia (2001-2019).

- Private Equity International Awards – Hall of Fame 2019

Publication Spotlight

Every week, our European team provides commentary on legal, regulatory and tax developments for the European private funds industry. To view the back catalogue of these articles, click here.

To subscribe to the weekly update, click here.

Announcement

Debevoise Announces New Funds Regulatory Counsel in London

Thought Leadership

Ranked as a leading law firm in the UK and France for Private Equity.

Excellent work all-around. Skilled, thoughtful, responsive, proactive.

The Debevoise funds team led by Geoff Kittredge was excellent. They are technically very strong and ran the matter efficiently and pro-actively.

—IFLR1000, 2020

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

Incredibly knowledgeable and they operate both in Europe and the US, which is a great advantage.

Client-focused and very responsive.

They are one of the leaders in the secondary PE space; they have seen all types of transactions and have an ability to think through all the angles and leverage international capabilities.

—Chambers UK, 2020

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

The firm's private funds practice provides outstanding services well informed not only by the latest European legal developments, but also by US private funds developments.

The London private equity practice at Debevoise & Plimpton is led by a group of excellent lawyers with extensive experience in the market who work well together as a team. When working with Debevoise you are confident that you will receive top quartile advice and will therefore be well placed in any legal discussion or negotiation.

Geoffrey Kittredge ranked as a leading individual. John Rife ranked a Next Generation Lawyer.

—The Legal 500 UK, 2020

Lawyers have “a depth of resources, are pragmatic and hands-on, and have good judgement of what is commercially important for the client.”

[A] strong team with extremely capable key figures,” and “very knowledgeable and very good at building trusted relationships.

—Chambers Europe, 2020

Learn More

The Europe practice is one of the most active in the market. It is part of an integrated global practice that has advised sponsors of, or investors in, over 1,600 private equity funds worldwide, with committed capital of over $1 trillion. This experience means Debevoise’s European lawyers have deep insight into funds pursuing every major investment strategy, including buyouts, venture capital, mezzanine, workouts and distressed debt, secondaries, real estate, infrastructure, media and telecommunications, healthcare, energy and other sector and regional funds, as well as funds of funds.Such breadth of experience also means Debevoise’s European funds lawyers build solutions based on detailed business and legal data included in its proprietary database covering more than 2,800 private funds, including over 500 venture capital funds, as well as an extensive library of flexible model forms, memoranda and precedents.At a time of increasing regulatory complexity, the practice draws on its significant experience, as well as heavy involvement with the main European and emerging markets private equity trade associations, to ensure clients are well equipped to navigate the latest regulatory developments. These include providing extensive advice and support on issues such as AIFMD compliance, Dodd-Frank/Volcker Rule/IAA registration and reporting, and all FCA-related issues. For the benefit of clients, the practice has also developed a global survey of the securities and investment management laws relevant to the offer and sale of fund interests in more than 70 jurisdictions.The European Funds practice is further supported by a tax team that includes lawyers qualified in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, U.S. and France. The practice includes complex carried interest planning and co-investment arrangements, often in multiple jurisdictions.The funds team is part of a global Private Equity practice that is one of the largest and most active in the world, whether measured by the number of funds, total committed capital or resources devoted to private equity fund formation. Through working closely with colleagues in the U.S.and Asia, Debevoise’s European funds lawyers offer a global perspective, and access to high-level legal advice throughout the world. Our lawyers are members of the technical committee of the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association.