Raphaël Bloch

Willkie’s Paris office represents Rothschild & Co in the fundraising of Five Arrows Secondary Opportunities V (FASO V). Willkie client Rothschild & Co announced that it had completed the fundraising for FASO V. Specialized in the European small and mid-market, FASO V is the 16th fund raised above its expected target by Rothschild & Co's Merchant Banking business over the last 10 years. This brings its total assets under management to approximately €13 billion across four strategies: corporate private equity; senior and junior credit; primary and secondary fund investing; and co-investments. FASO V was oversubscribed receiving total capital commitments of €1 billion, materially above the initial target of €700 million. Investors represent a globally diversified group of institutions, corporations, international family offices and entrepreneurs. The deal was handled by partner Nathalie Duguay with the assistance of associates Raphaël Bloch and Barbara Botbol.

Jan 22

1 min

The Paris office represented Apax Partners Development in the fundraising of Apax Development Fund. Willkie client Apax Partners Development recently announced that it has raised €255 million for Apax Development Fund, the first fund launched since the combination of Apax Partners Development (formerly EPF Partners) with Apax Partners SAS. Apax Development Fund is 2.5 times the size of the last fund raised by EPF Partners, EPF IV. It was subscribed by a large number of investors from France, Europe and North America. Apax Development Fund’s investment strategy is focused on high-growth French SMEs with a valuation of up to €100 million, operating in Apax Partners’ four sectors of specialization: TMT, Consumer, Healthcare, and Services. Apax Partners Development targets robust, high-quality platforms and accelerates its growth through digital transformation, market consolidation and international expansion. Apax Partners Development aims to build a portfolio of approximately ten investments, each for amounts between €15 million and €50 million. The deal was handled by partner Nathalie Duguay with the assistance of associate Raphaël Bloch.

Feb 4

1 min

Willkie advises PAI Partners on the closing of its inaugural €920 million PAI Mid-Market Fund. On March 11, Willkie client PAI Partners announced the successful final close of its inaugural PAI Mid-Market Fund (“PAI MMF”, or the “Fund”) with a total of circa €920 million of commitments. The Fund was raised entirely virtually and is above €700m target and original €800 million hard cap, which was increased following significant investor interest. The Fund received strong support from PAI’s existing investor base in addition to new investors. The capital commitments were received from a total of 50 investors including a broad range of institutional investors, notably leading public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and family offices across the globe. The MMF draws from PAI’s core investment DNA and capabilities, leveraging the firm’s European expertise, its local market presence most notably in France, Spain, Italy and Germany, and its specialized, in-depth sector knowledge to create an extension of the firm’s platform to access the mid-market. It is being invested alongside PAI’s larger-cap fund, PAI Europe VII, which closed at €5.1 billion in 2018. PAI MMF will focus on rapidly scalable companies in the European mid-market and will support high-quality management teams to develop and grow their businesses, capitalizing on PAI’s international consolidation expertise. The Fund has already demonstrated a strong pipeline, having made three separate investments in Amplitude Surgical, Angulas Aguinaga and MyFlower. The cross-border Willkie team was led by partners Nathalie Duguay and Phillip Isom and included associates Raphaël Bloch, Giovanni Smedley, Charles Hadley, Anthony Civico, Matthew Pei, Gabrielle Schwartz, Tatyana Lozé, and Romain Michaux.

Mar 11

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Antin Infrastructure Partners, one of the world’s leading infrastructure investment firms, on the successful closure of its fifth flagship fund above target, raising €10.2 billion ($10.7 billion). The new fund is expected to be the largest infrastructure fund to reach a final closing worldwide in 2024. Read Antin’s press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds lawyers Raphaël Bloch and Erica Berthou.

Dec 19

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised PAI Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in France, in a strategic minority investment in its business by Dyal Capital, a division of Blue Owl Capital Inc. Read PAI’s press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners Richard Watkins, James King and Raphaël Bloch and associates Toby Karenowski, Christopher Simpson, Courtenay Stock, Rajiv Chandrasena, Luke Redstone and Benjamin Bignier; tax partners Nadine Gelli, Jonathan Kandel, Rob Sharpe, Lee Morlock and Christopher Odell and associate Louise Chappey; and corporate partner Laurent Victor-Michel and associates François Capoul and Lucy Bower.

Jan 19

1 min