The Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP private equity group regularly represents private equity funds, institutional investors and public and private companies in all types of private equity transactions, including fund formations, acquisitions, investments, platform establishments, joint ventures, financings, recapitalizations, sales and other exit strategies. Our advice is based on our experience representing private equity sponsors and other investors, as well as the portfolio companies in which they invest.

Life-Cycle Representation for Investments. We have significant experience representing private equity funds in connection with their investments, whether in the form of buyouts (leveraged, management-led or otherwise), majority investments, minority investments, joint ventures or other structures. We incorporate sophisticated tax experience in helping our clients structure the initial investment, conduct legal and business due diligence, and draft and negotiate definitive investment and financing documents. We regularly represent clients in leveraged transactions and deploy integrated teams of private equity and finance lawyers to better serve our clients’ needs. We provide ongoing support to our private equity clients in their management and oversight of portfolio investments. Finally, we assist our clients with various exit strategies, including leveraged recapitalizations, divestitures and IPOs.

Customized Full-Service Approach. We understand that each private equity client is unique. We work closely with our client's deal team and outside advisers to understand our client's specific business objectives. We tailor our advice to help each client achieve business and legal solutions that are practical and cost-efficient, while maximizing operational flexibility and financial returns. Our deal teams are leanly staffed with experienced attorneys who are adept at sharing resources across our diverse and geographically dispersed offices and practice groups. We complement our customized deal team approach by making available to our private equity clients a vast array of additional services that only a full-service firm like ours can provide. Our private equity clients regularly call on our tax, employee benefits, litigation, antitrust, trade, real estate and environmental lawyers to assist with various matters involving their portfolio company investments.

Fund Formation. We have substantial experience in private fund formation, including the preparation of private offering documents and fund partnership and limited liability company agreements. We have experience in complex structuring issues, including cross-border and onshore/offshore structures to accommodate investors from, or strategies focused on, a particular region of the world or particular investment and exit techniques. We regularly assist fund sponsor groups in establishing carried interest, employee participation and other upstream fund structures. We also have significant experience representing institutional investors considering investments in private funds and negotiating the terms of their investments and their ongoing economic and control rights. Our regular scrutiny of fund documents on behalf of potential investors informs and improves our work for fund sponsors.

Broad Transactional Practice. Our private equity practice group is part of our firm’s broader team of transactional attorneys located in all of our offices who assist a wide array of clients in various industries on matters relating to capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and lending and finance. Our transactional team complements our private equity group by providing a deep bench of transactional experience across various practice areas that our private equity clients can tap into as necessary.