Lauren Livingston – GC Powerlist
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United Kingdom 2019

Lauren Livingston

Fintech, Sponsors and Investors | CVC Capital Partners

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United Kingdom 2019

legal500.com/gc-powerlist/

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Lauren Livingston

Fintech, Sponsors and Investors | CVC Capital Partners

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Team size: 9
Major law firms used: Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Latham & Watkins, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, White & Case

‘I am told by my mother that I am someone who is dangerous when bored,’ warns Lauren Livingston, GC of private equity house CVC Capital Partners. ‘Luckily, we’re never bored here.’ It must be far from boring: Livingston has spent over a decade at CVC since joining in 2007, becoming GC in January 2015. She has gone from strength to strength since being named as a Rising Star in the 2014 GC Powerlist.

The CVC in-house team is certainly busy, as it services every single one of the company’s 24 global offices. Livingston insists that legal has a hand in every transaction. ‘I was at an internal senior conference last week and I realised that I had worked with everyone in that large room of people, which was lovely.’ The buyout house is attracting the right kind of talent too – highly rated Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer associate Nicholas Bond joined in 2017. Clearly it is an appealing destination for budding lawyers.

In terms of transactional highlights, Livingston picks out a minority shareholder investment in the commercial manager of the UK’s top Rugby Union league, Premiership Rugby. She describes the deal as ‘complex and exciting’ for the in-house team. It was not just headline deals keeping her busy though, as with all GCs, Livingston has had to contend with the ever-growing pressure of GDPR.
Despite being a general issue, she insists it requires a specialist: ‘You can’t just throw a lawyer at it. It requires cultural considerations. The lawyer has to sit with the culture of the organisation – what kind of data do my investment officers need?’

Livingston’s performance as GC has also caught the eye of private practice, with Kem Ihenacho, co-chair of Latham & Watkins’ private equity practice observing: ‘Lauren is experienced and well respected. She has a clear understanding of what’s important for CVC as an institution and its investors, therefore how to ensure that service providers deliver to them in the right way to achieve those aims.’

One of Livingston’s strongest qualities is her passion for female empowerment, regularly speaking at conferences and panel discussions on the subject. She concludes: ‘If when I speak up and out, I help just one person realise they can achieve their ambitions, then my job is done.’

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