Private Equity & Investment Funds

A Global Practice

King & Spalding has one of the world's leading private equity and investment funds practices.  Our partners have been helping large cap, middle market and small cap private equity clients since the mid-1980s.

Global coverage.  We advise private equity clients, including buy-out funds, real estate funds, sovereign wealth funds, venture capital funds and other alternative investment vehicles and other private equity investors doing business in the North American, Latin American, European, Middle Eastern, Russian and Asian markets.  Our lawyers have played a leading role in hundreds of private equity transactions, for both public and private companies, ranging in size from less than $50 million to more than $25 billion. 

Expertise

• In-depth energy law experience.  More than 120 of our lawyers advise energy clients from our offices in Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Singapore, the Middle East, Washington, D.C., Austin and San Francisco.  Our lawyers have extensive transactional and regulatory experience in the domestic and international oil and gas, LNG, petrochemical, electric and nuclear power, renewable and alternative energy and mining and natural resource markets.
  
  
• Unique healthcare and life science law experience.  Our team of healthcare lawyers, scientists and consultants representing U.S. healthcare companies involved in the delivery of healthcare and payment for healthcare services, and private equity investors therein, is one of the largest in the United States.  We also have one of the broadest and deepest benches of lawyers and other professionals specializing in the representation of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology companies.
  
  
• Presence in the Middle East.  Our team based in Dubai and Riyadh advises on investment transactions across the Persian Gulf countries, North Africa, the Levant and into India and southeast Asia.  Many of our lawyers are native Arabic speakers, and all are familiar with the special requirements of doing business in these regions.  We have one of the world's leading Islamic finance practices.
  
  
• Significant real estate law experience.  We have extensive experience advising managers and sponsors of private real estate investment funds.  We represent numerous real estate investment advisors in connection with real estate transactions, fund formation and management issues, as well as a broad range of domestic and international real estate tax and regulatory matters.

Services

• Assistance throughout the entire investment cycle.  We assist clients in connection with their control and minority investments, including initial acquisitions, divestitures, add-on acquisitions, financings and various exit transactions, including dispositions, initial public offerings and complex recapitalizations.
  
  
• Comprehensive firm experience.  We provide coordinated teams with comprehensive experience in the areas of mergers and acquisitions; compensation and benefits; tax; senior and high-yield debt finance; corporate finance; Islamic finance; real estate; intellectual property; international trade; environmental; antitrust; and government relations to assist clients with all phases of their investments.
  
  
• Fund Formation and Management.  We have extensive experience in the organization of private investment funds and fund management companies.  We regularly represent sponsors and investment managers, funds of funds, sovereign wealth funds, lead investors, co-investors, placement agents and other advisors.  We also assist fund manager clients in other areas, including internal partnership arrangements, corporate governance, tax planning and regulatory compliance.
  
  
• Advising management teams. We have extensive experience in separately advising portfolio company management teams on their participation in buyouts and other private equity investments by funds. Our interdisciplinary team of executive compensation and tax lawyers help portfolio company managers achieve their equity incentive and compensation objectives over the life of a fund's investment in the managers' employer.

Rankings & Recognitions

King & Spalding is regularly ranked highly among law firms most involved in the investment, mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions that are integral to private equity investment and exit strategies.  The firm’s key rankings include:

• King & Spalding is consistently ranked in The Private Equity Analyst as one of the most active law firms in the U.S. representing general partners or limited partners in connection with private equity or venture capital funds.
  
  
• In 2011, the private equity practice was:
  
  
  • ranked 18th in the world by Bloomberg for global private equity buyout transactions;
    
    
  • ranked 5th in the United States by MergerMarket for private equity buyout transactions;
    
    
  • ranked in the top 25 law firms in the world by Prequin for real estate formation; and
    
    
  • named best law firm of the year by Islamic Finance News for private equity and tax.
    
    
• Chambers USA has included King & Spalding in its national rankings for Private Equity: Buyouts and Venture Capital Investments.
  
  
• Our M&A practice is consistently ranked in the top 20 in the U.S.-based on deal size and number of transactions.
  
  
• Our Middle East/Islamic Finance practice is one of the leading such practices in the world.
  
  
• Our Energy practice is a leading practice nationally and internationally, as we are one of only a few AmLaw 50 firms with offices in Houston, New York, London, the Middle East and Asia.
  
  
• Our Energy, Healthcare and Life Sciences practices are some of the largest in the United States.