John Senior, P.C.

Kirkland & Ellis advised Fengate Asset Management, a leading North American alternative investment manager focused on infrastructure, private equity and real estate strategies, on significantly increasing its equity stake in eStruxture Data Centers with the sector-shaping deal. This builds on the long-standing business partnership through a C$1.8 billion recapitalization transaction, including a continuation fund and a significant parallel investment on behalf of Fengate Infrastructure Fund III, Fengate Infrastructure Fund IV, and their affiliated entities. The deal was announced in June 2024 and the final closing occurred in October 2024. Fengate’s investment in eStruxture includes newly raised capital from a group of institutional secondary investors. The record-breaking investment is the single largest ever made in the Canadian data center sector and one of the largest privately led Canadian deals of 2024. The investment will provide eStruxture with significant growth equity and enable the expansion of eStruxture's portfolio of 15 facilities to meet the demand for data center capacity. Read Fengate’s press release The Kirkland team included investment funds lawyers Susan Eisenberg, John Senior, Emma Whenham, Rhett McPhie, Ross Greenspan, Ally Relat and Jack Baumruk; corporate lawyers Garrett Lorentz, Ernesto Sanz and Cory Baird; and tax lawyers Andrew Chan and Lee Morlock.

Oct 16

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. (LGP) on the final closing of Sage Equity Investors and its related entities (Sage I), its inaugural investment program dedicated to investing primarily in single-asset continuation funds sponsored by third-party private equity managers. Sage I closed with over $3.6 billion of total commitments, significantly exceeding its initial target of $1.5 billion. Read the transaction release The Kirkland team included investment funds lawyers John Senior, Ramen Costa, Jordan Murray, Nathan Howe and Ashley Lee; tax lawyers Lee Morlock, Michael Greenberg and Matthew Wahlquist; investment funds regulatory lawyers Nabil Sabki, John Reinert and Hane Kim; and ERISA lawyers Sabrina Glaser and Joseph Lifsics.

Jan 26

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis represented Kinderhook Industries, LLC in the formation of its latest flagship private equity fund, Kinderhook Capital Fund 8, L.P. (Fund 8). Fund 8 was significantly oversubscribed. The first closing was held on April 5, 2024 and the final closing was announced June 18, 2024. Fund 8 raised total capital commitments of $2.75 billion (inclusive of general partner commitments and commitments from Kinderhook’s operating partner network), exceeding its $2 billion target. Fund 8 will make investments primarily in the Light Manufacturing / Automotive, Healthcare Services and Business / Environmental Services sectors in North America. Read Kinderhook’s press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners John Senior and Ramen Costa and associates Monique Groen, Savannah West, Brandeis Tilleman, Miriam Domer and Joe Walter and included transactional partner Brian Raftery; tax partners Dan Meehan, Mike Conroy and associate Natalie Kannan; investment funds regulatory partners Norm Champ, Daniel Kahl and associate Lena Yoon; ESG & impact partners Mackenzie Drutowski, Jennie Morawetz and associate Ethan Silverman; debt finance partners Jocelyn Hirsch and Leonard Kim and associate Sean Sullivan; regulatory partner Prem Mohan and associate Najma Ahmad; and technology & IP transactions partner Max Harris.

Jun 20

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis represented CenterOak Partners LLC, a Dallas-based private equity firm, on the closing of CenterOak Equity Fund III, L.P. (Fund III or the Fund). The Fund was oversubscribed and achieved its hard cap with total capital commitments of over $1.1 billion. The Fund’s capital was largely committed by existing institutional investors, but it also attracted support from many new limited partners globally, including private and public pensions, endowments and foundations. Read CenterOak’s press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners John Senior, Laura Stake and Anna Baxendale and associate Megan Bourassa; and tax partner Steve Butler.

Aug 26

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis represented private equity firm Court Square Capital Management, L.P. on the completion of a single-asset continuation fund to continue its partnership with PlayCore Group, Inc., a market leading provider of multi-brand playground equipment and recreation products. Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. (LGP), through Sage Equity Investors, L.P., acted as the sole lead investor and provided incremental capital commitments to support PlayCore’s future organic growth initiatives and M&A. The transaction offered existing investors the option to generate full or partial liquidity at an attractive return as well as the ability to roll their existing interests. PlayCore’s management team will remain a significant investor in the company. Sage is capitalized primarily by funds managed by LGP and a group of its co-investors. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included investment funds lawyers Társis Gonçalves, Sean Malone, John Senior, Nicholas Chan, Nathan Howe, Mack Wan, Dave Chan, Deanna Schreiber, Tiffany Wang and Zacaria Alahmad; corporate lawyers Jai Agrawal, Jessica Sicsu and Caitie Manuel; tax lawyers David Grenker and Claire Oxford; investment funds regulatory lawyers Noah Qiao and Tiffany Kwok; and debt finance lawyers Jocelyn Hirsch, Angela Hagerman, Bill Bandy and Adam Gilmore.

Nov 25

1 min