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.

Debevoise & Plimpton are very clever, knowledgeable, good at advising, very responsive and do it in a calm and collected way.

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.

—Chambers UK, 2025

Ranked as a leading firm in the US for Investment Funds: Investor Representation

They have a thorough understanding of key terms and conditions, with views on what is market and non-market. The firm has speciality in all the niches covered by our business.

They have a vast knowledge of market practices and key points that need to be raised, negotiated and resolved. The team is incredibly deep and talented and I have confidence in all their lawyers.

They are a superstar team. They are extremely knowledgeable of all industry developments and they have strong lawyers who can think like businesspeople.

—Chambers USA, 2025

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

The team offers thoughtful analysis and strategic recommendations in fund restructuring situations, foreseeing what might go wrong.

—Chambers Global (2025)

Ranked as a top-tier firm by both Chambers USA (2025) and The Legal 500 US (2025) for Private Equity Fund Formation.

They take a meticulous approach and address our needs with precision. They are at the cutting edge of the industry, leveraging deep market knowledge and innovative solutions to stay ahead of trends.

They have deep market knowledge, technical expertise, a mastery of private equity funds and are creative problem-solvers. They are very attuned to development in the market.

—Chambers USA, 2025

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

—Buyouts Magazine Awards, 2022

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, 2026

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

Recent Matters

Announcements

Learn More

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.