Private equity in Luxembourg

With ten partners dedicated to transactional private equity work, and also benefitting from the requisite regulatory, tax and fund structuring expertise, Arendt & Medernach is a popular choice among global private equity heavyweights, including Warburg Pincus, Bain Capital and Blackstone, to provide the requisite Luxembourg structuring advice pursuant to many big-ticket mandates. In this context the team, which is headed by Adrian Aldinger, is noted for its ability to provide ‘strategic advice’. The practice is not, however, limited to advising on large-scale international acquisitions/disposals; in addition, it advises local/regional funds, and is also well-plugged in to the venture/growth capital ecosystem. Pierre Beissel is a key member of the team and as well as practical knowledge gleaned from his involvement in many key sponsor-led transactions, also gains further insight as a result of his commitment to the industry as whole, including as a board member of the Luxembourg Private Equity Association. The ‘incredible‘ Laurent Schummer has an ‘excellent understanding of start-ups’ and therefore, as well as his core private equity prowess, is a popular choice in relation to venture capital matters (where his capital markets knowledge can be effectively leveraged on IPO exit strategies).

Clifford Chance provides a ‘very strong and integrated service’ to an impressive range of sponsors across all aspects of the private equity value chain. Christian Kremer and Katia Gauzès  are the key contacts on the transactional side and regularly team up with lawyers from across the firm’s huge international network to provide crucial local law advice pursuant to major downstream investments/divestments across a range of sectors.

Benefiting from strong M&A, fund structuring and regulatory expertise, the ‘tightly integrated and highly co-ordinated team’ at Elvinger Hoss Prussen ‘has an extensive knowledge of the applicable standards for the industry’ and provides ‘commercially savvy and legally accurate advice’ to many leading sponsors across the full range of their Luxembourg-based needs associated with big-ticket international mandates. The ‘smart and innovative‘ Toinon Hoss has a fiercely loyal client base that is appreciative of her ‘encyclopaedic knowledge of the law’ and her ‘great understanding of the tax and economic side of deals‘.

Loyens & Loeff has an excellent understanding of the private equity sector and is thereby able to provide ‘technically strong‘ and ‘solutions-oriented‘ advice across the needs of its loyal roster of sponsor clients, including fund structuring, downstream investment advice and portfolio management. Led on the transactional side by Frederic Franckx (who was himself formerly head of the firm’s New York representative office), many of the mandates have a North American nexus, cultivated by dint of the firm’s strong ties with US-based law firm referrers, as well as directly from numerous large global US-based sponsors. ‘Well-connected in the Luxembourg market‘, Guy Palmaers provides ‘very reliable advice‘ to clients engaged in cross-border private equity-led M&A. The ‘outstanding‘ Mathilde Lattard regularly handles private equity-led M&A and is a key member of the team that also includes the ‘user-friendly and level-headed’ Michael Scott, who has developed particular expertise advising US and UK-based funds, investing through Luxembourg, looking to realise value through acquiring distressed assets.

Led by Linda Harroch, BSP has a strong reputation in the private equity space, as a result of its ability to provide ‘practical, focused and comprehensive advice‘. Active on the debt financing and corporate structuring front, Harroch has a versatile practice and continues to handle a significant volume of work for core client Advent International.

Led by Gérard Maîtrejean, the ‘very responsive’ team at CMS provides ‘high-quality and practical advice’ to regional and global sponsors across the full spectrum of investment strategies including M&A (share and asset deals), exits, strategic partnerships and joint ventures. Maitrejean is praised for his ‘sensible, efficient and reasoned advice’, in the context of cross-border mandates.

Dechert Luxembourg is a popular choice among financial sponsor clients by dint of its strong credentials in the country, as well as its ability to draw upon the expertise of lawyers spread throughout the firm’s international network, which includes resources in all the major fund centres in Europe, Asia and the US. Co-headed by Patrick Goebel  and Jean-Louis Frognet, the team is well-versed at advising on matters throughout the life cycle of traditional private equity matters, including M&A mandates, and has also been increasingly active in relation to credit fund-related work.

Private equity-led M&A is one of the core areas of focus for boutique independent Luxembourg business law firm LexField and it provides ‘high-quality and commercially astute advice’ directly to a growing roster of internationally renowned financial sponsors, as well as in a referral capacity for many large international law firms which lack a presence in the country. ‘Highly skilled’ team head Aldric Grosjean has a strong reputation as a result of his ‘capacity to find appropriate and acceptable solutions even in the situations where the parties come close to deal-breaking point’. ‘Highly organised and technically astute’ counsel Adrian Dobbyn is also a pivotal member of the team and regularly assists Grosjean on the most significant mandates handled by the firm.

NautaDutilh provides ‘solutions-oriented and cost-effective advice’ directly for some major international sponsors, as well as in a referral context from numerous heavyweight law firms on the buy and sell-side on major multi-jurisdictional mandates. The team’s Benelux offices also enable the team to provide a co-ordinated and seamless service on deals with a nexus to the region. Romain Sabatier ‘is pragmatic and technically strong’ and alongside Margaretha Wilkenhuysen and Yoanna Stefanova is a key member of the team.

Benefiting from excellent local knowledge and also able to leverage vast resources throughout the global PwC network, the ‘efficient’ team at PwC Legal Luxembourg is well-positioned to advise sponsor clients on the Luxembourg structuring necessary to facilitate their cross-border acquisitions and exits. Catherine Baflast is the primary contact for private equity-led M&A mandates.

Stibbe’s ‘flexible and dynamic’ three-partner team has an ‘excellent understanding of the industry’, as a result of many years’ experience handling private equity-led M&A mandates. The firm’s established presence in the Netherlands and Belgium ensures that the team is also well-suited to advising clients on regional Benelux mandates. Gérald Origer is, according to one client, ‘one of the best market participants in Luxembourg’.

Appreciated for its ‘pragmatic approach to solving issues’, AKD‘s ‘flexible and innovative‘ two-partner team is regularly engaged directly by funds, as well as in a referral capacity from interational law firms to provide the Luxembourg structuring to facilitate international M&A transactions. The ‘pragmatic and technically outstanding‘ Nicolas Marchand has a significant amount of sponsor-led M&A experience and his arrival in September 2020 from DLA Piper was a major boost to the team. Marchand now co-heads the department alongside the ‘responsive and solutions-oriented‘ Cedric Bless.

Bonn & Schmitt regularly provides the local law structuring advice on behalf of a small but loyal roster of significant private equity firms, including EQT and Capvis. Frédéric Lemoine co-heads the team alongside Cedric Bellwald and is appreciated for his ‘very pragmatic approach and hands-on advice’.

Although it lacks the same degree of specialisation and focus as some of its peers in the market, KLEYR GRASSO handles a not inconsiderable volume of private equity and growth capital M&A-related work as a function of its broader corporate practice. The arrival from D.Law in March 2021 of corporate finance expert Jean-Philippe Drescher strengthens the team. Rina Breininger retired in July 2021.