Investment fund sponsors and their investors know that successful fundraising and successful fund investing require the assistance of experienced lawyers who know where "the market" is and where it is going, and who are able to advise their clients on a broad–and ever-changing–array of legal and regulatory issues affecting investment funds. The O'Melveny Investment Funds practice provides exactly this kind of service to its long and growing list of investment fund clients, including fund sponsors such as Apollo Management, CCMP Capital, Freeman Spogli, and Insight Venture Partners, and fund investors such as Coller Capital, Government of Singapore, and Qwest. Our sponsor-side client list includes established investment firms that have raised one or more prior funds, as well as select first time funds.
Our Investment Funds practice is one of the largest fund practices in the world, with lawyers worldwide focused on the key areas of law affecting investment funds, including corporate law, partnership law, tax, ERISA and U.S. and non-U.S. securities laws. We are a truly global practice, with lawyers located in New York, California, London and Asia who have experience working with investment funds investing in the United States and North America, Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and other emerging markets. Although each of our core offices is staffed to provide our clients with full "one-stop" shopping on investment fund matters, the group often works together on projects where a global firm approach–such as information sharing across offices regarding trends in the global marketplace or addressing the specific legal or regulatory issues of a particular project–provides a client with the resources and know-how necessary to achieve a successful outcome.
Our practice is not only geographically diverse, it is also varied in terms of our fund product experience. We have worked across the full spectrum of investment fund product types, including funds focused on buyouts/growth equity, credit opportunity/distressed investments, venture capital, real estate and infrastructure, as well as feeder funds, fund of funds, co-investment funds, permanent capital funds, and hedge funds. Similarly, we have represented fund clients with many different industry focuses, including funds focused on investments in industrial companies, consumer retail & service businesses, energy/alternative energy companies, financial institutions/service businesses, technology companies, health care companies, and media/entertainment/telecom companies. The size of the funds that we currently represent ranges from US$100 million to over US$5 billion.
We believe that our extensive representation of top-flight fund sponsors and investors, our integrated global footprint, and our extensive experience across fund products provides us with "360-degree" vision on the terms, trends, and law driving the investment fund marketplace. We use this vision daily in delivering innovative, pragmatic, and commercial solutions to our clients' most complex business and legal requirements. In doing so, we provide today's fund client with what it needs most: global reach, local strength, superior results.
Key Facts
- Over US$25 billion in private investment fundraising activities for our clients in 2008.
- Chambers UK 2010 comments on our London team’s range of mandates and quotes a number of the Firm's clients, who report that O'Melveny is "[a] genuine competitor," "[i]t's ability to offer seamless US/UK advice as well as a wide Asian network is appealing," and "[t]he team remains cool and calm under considerable time pressures." Chambers UK has recommended our practice for the last several years, commenting on our London team’s mandates from a range of European clients and lauds our “superb international network” allowing our lawyers to draw on global resources.
- Chambers USA 2009 recognizes our work in spinout transactions, and also states that our “global coverage has been integral to the development of the practice, which acts for US private equity sponsors and Asian private equity firms in a range of formations and structurings.”
- Chambers Asia 2009 commends our Asia practice, stating that “unlike some other US players it is always building up its practice, and is able to provide a really full-service offering.” Chambers also remarks on our “deep understanding of the mainland Chinese market and its hottest investment sectors.”
- Legal 500 US 2009 describes our lawyers as “extremely knowledgeable about the range of private equity fund issues," and “strong in negotiating on behalf of their client.” Legal 500 also comments on our wide range of experience with many types of funds and funds-of-funds―buyout, growth equity, credit opportunity/distressed debt, infrastructure and real estate―as well as the secondaries market and hybrid funds space. “This allows the practice to provide ‘valuable insights’ in catering to the needs of a broad congregation of clients.”
- Partners within the group are industry leaders, with over 100 years of collective fund experience.
Industry Reach
- Buyout/Growth Equity
- Co-Investment Funds
- Credit Opportunity/Distressed Investments
- Feeders/Fund of Funds
- Hedge Funds
- Infrastructure
- Permanent Capital
- Real Estate
- Renewable Energy/Clean Technology
- RMB Denominated Funds
- Secondary/Synthetic Secondary
- Venture Capital