Debevoise has advised private investment firms on the formation of, and investors on the investment in, private investments funds in all major investment strategies for more than 35 years, as well as acted as counsel for the independent directors of major mutual funds and closed-end funds. One of the largest and most diverse practices of its kind in the world, the team has acted on behalf of sponsors of, or investors in, more than 2,100 private investment funds with committed capital of well over $2.6 trillion.
The Private Investment Funds and Investment Management Group has an unrivaled understanding of the private fund market/industry in all major jurisdictions. With a global regulatory network and deep international experience, the practice counsels across the entire life cycle of these complex products and vehicles – covering organization and economic arrangements for sponsors, fund formation, downstream transactions, exits, firm and fund restructurings, buy-side work, secondaries and wind downs. The practice is on top of all aspects of the marketplace and responds quickly to, and even anticipates changes in, the market, offering clients a significant competitive advantage.
This outstanding level of financial and legal sophistication has made Debevoise the trusted advisor to sponsor after sponsor. Indeed, the Group possesses what Chambers refers to as “a delightful personal touch, very user friendly” and places “client service at a premium – responsiveness has been ingrained into their psyche.”
Debevoise represents the full range of private investment firms, from first-time funds, to independent boutiques and institutionally sponsored private equity businesses, to multi-strategy alternative asset firms investing in every corner of the globe. The Group has helped clients develop much of the fund technology that is now considered the industry standard, and has created a proprietary database that searches economic and legal terms included in over 2,800 private funds, including over 500 venture capital funds – providing clients with fast, efficient and credible intelligence. Additionally, the practice has created a global survey of the securities and investment management laws relevant to the offer and sale of fund interests in more than 70 countries, as well as an extensive library of flexible model forms, memoranda and precedents.
The Debevoise funds team includes one of the largest and most experienced group of lawyers in the world focusing on private equity funds and investment management, and is roundly considered “one of the best in the PE Fund formation” (Legal 500). With offices in New York, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and more than 50 corporate lawyers worldwide devoting all of their time to private investment fund formation, its understanding of the laws and business implications both on a regional level and globally make the Group, according to Chambers, quite simply “one of the best in the business.”