Overview

Corvane Ryle's Private Equity practice advises sponsors, their portfolio companies and their co-investors throughout the investment life cycle. We act on leveraged buyouts, growth investments, take-privates, carve-outs, add-on acquisitions and exits, and we form the funds that make those investments possible.

Our lawyers understand what a sponsor needs from a deal: speed, certainty and terms that protect returns. We negotiate purchase agreements, equity commitment and limited guarantee arrangements, management equity plans and shareholder agreements, and we coordinate the financing with our Banking & Private Credit lawyers so that debt and equity close together.

The market has become more structured. Continuation funds, minority stakes, preferred equity and co-investment vehicles are now ordinary tools, and each raises its own questions on conflicts, governance and valuation. Sponsors also face closer regulatory review, from the new HSR Act filing form to foreign direct investment screening in Europe and the UK. We build that analysis into the deal plan from the first day rather than the last.

For portfolio companies, we advise on bolt-on acquisitions, refinancings, recapitalizations, dividend recaps and the preparation of a business for sale or listing. When a company needs a different path, our Restructuring, Tax and Capital Markets colleagues are already familiar with the sponsor and the asset.

Where a sponsor needs speed, we staff transactions with lawyers who have closed comparable deals recently, so that the team knows where the market stands on price, protections and timetable.

Annika Holmgren-Reyes, based in London, leads the practice, working with partners in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, Singapore and San Francisco. We act for global funds and mid-market sponsors alike, including Northwall Capital.

Key lawyers

Our private equity lawyers work with the M&A, tax and finance teams on every transaction.

• Annika Holmgren-Reyes, Partner, London
• Hiroshi Kanemoto, Partner, Singapore

Representative experience

• Advised Northwall Capital on the final close of Fund VII.
• Advised Northwall Capital on its acquisition of Larkspur Apparel in a US$1.2 billion transaction.
• Represented a sponsor in the take-private of a NYSE-listed consumer brand.
• Advised a European buyout fund on the formation of a single-asset continuation vehicle.
• Counseled a sponsor on a carve-out of a healthcare services division from a listed parent.
• Represented a growth investor in a US$300 million minority investment in a software company.
• Advised a portfolio company on a dividend recapitalization financed in the private credit market.