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Michael Richardson

Michael Richardson

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Maples Group

Maples Group

Cayman Islands

1

Investment funds

Maples Group’s investment funds practice is a market leader, advising across private equity, hedge, credit, digital assets, and multi-strategy sectors. The team is known for its expertise in complex hybrid and evergreen structures and is supported by its fiduciary and fund services arm, which provides management, fiduciary, accounting, and administration support. Cayman head Sheryl Dean specialises in private equity fund structures and downstream transactions, while global head Michael Richardson advises on hedge and private equity fund platforms. Jo Cunningham is noted for fund reorganisations, Philip Dickinson and Jeremy Bomford focus on private equity fund formation and transactions, Lee Davis advises from structuring to secondaries, and Stephen Watler acts as lead partner for a range of fund managers.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Phone
+1 345 814 5532
Email
[email protected]
Profile
maples.com

Profile

Work Department
Funds & Investment Management
Position

Michael is Managing Partner of Maples and Calder’s Cayman Islands office and head of the global Funds & Investment Management practice. He advises a wide range of financial institutions and investment managers on all aspects of the establishment and maintenance of offshore hedge funds, private equity funds and investment fund platforms. Michael also has extensive experience advising on ongoing transactional and restructuring issues relating to offshore investment funds.

Career

Michael joined the Maples Group in 2004 from a law firm in London and was elected as a partner in 2009.  He has spoken at a number of industry events in the Cayman Islands and the US on a wide range of topics.  Michael has been recommended in Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR1000.

Memberships
Member of the Cayman Islands Legal Practitioners Association Legal & Regulatory Co-Chair for AIMA Cayman Member of the Cayman Islands Committee of Hearts at Help for Children
Education

University of London, UK, BA (Hons), History

The College of Law, Guildford, UK, CPE, LPC

Content supplied by Maples Group

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Maples Group's practice is highly professional and delivers excellent service. It has a team that specialises in the needs of clients in our jurisdiction. Maples provides a lot of background data and information and is active in providing it to the clients.’

    ‘Andrew Keast is our go-to person in Maples. We have worked together for a very long time. Andrew is highly professional, and we are always confident that he will provide excellent service to our clients.’

    ‘Maples Group is the preeminent firm in the Cayman Islands for financial services. The partners there are always ready to assist in addressing complex issues for clients.’

    ‘Tim Coak is an expert in setting up private investment funds. He is extremely knowledgeable about US regulations and sensitive to such when assisting on matters for US-registered fund managers.'

    ‘The Maples Group team has been a wonderful partner for us. We find the Maples team to be particularly strong at delivering highly commercial advice, meeting deadlines, being extremely responsive and being quite detail-oriented. When I ask the Maples Group to provide their insights or opinions, or analysis on any particular legal issue, I know that I am getting top-quality and timely advice. There's never a need to chase or follow up. They are always on it!’

    ‘Jeremy Bomford is excellent. He is commercial, smart, and quick.’

    ‘The Maples Group team has an incredibly strong market share, such that they have experience with every conceivable structure and transaction involved in Cayman funds.’

    ‘I have worked extensively with Jo Cunningham, Philip Dickinson, and Gwyneth Rees. All are substantively impressive and responsive. It is a unique combination of expertise and client service.’

Key clients

  • Ares Management Corp Bain Capital Blackstone BlackRock Brookfield Citadel D. E. Shaw Fortress Investment Group GCM Grosvenor Capital Goldman Sachs KKR Insight Partners I Squared Capital Morgan Stanley Neuberger Berman Providence Equity StepStone Stonepeak TPG

Work highlights

Advised BlackRock on the acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners and the acquisition of HPS, providing advice with respect to the acquisition and the requirements related to those funds under management.
Advised on the debut launch of Jain Global. The new multi-strategy manager launched on 1 July 2024 with an initial capital raise of US$5.3 billion, making it the biggest hedge fund launch since 2018.
Advised on the structuring and launch of Ares Senior Debt Lending Fund III, with total equity commitments of US$15 billion and an anticipated total capital base of approximately $34 billion.