Nathalie Duguay

Willkie recently advised global asset management group Tikehau Capital on the formation and first close of its new private equity fund, Brienne IV SLP, dedicated to investments in European cybersecurity companies. On October 25, Tikehau Capital announced the launch of the new Brienne vintage, which reached a first close of €200 million, surpassing its predecessor fund, Brienne III. Building on the success of its predecessor, the new fund will focus on €10 million to €50 million investments, including reinvestments, in innovative companies across the European cyber ecosystem. Headquartered in Paris, Tikehau Capital is a global alternative asset management group with €42 billion of assets under management, as of September 30, 2023. The Willkie team was led by partner Nathalie Duguay and included associates Thibault Dupont-Nougein and Marie-Charlotte Inedjian.

Nov 3

1 min

Willkie advised Apax Partners in connection with the fundraising of Apax MidMarket X. On July 22, Willkie advised Apax Partners in connection with the structuration and fund raising of Apax MidMarket X for a total commitments of €1,6 billion at hard cap surpassing its €1.2 billion target. The investors base is composed of long-time investors and new institutional investors established in France, Europe and North America. The team was leaded by asset management partner Nathalie Duguay and associate Anthony Civico.

Jul 23

1 min

Paris, 10 September 2021 – Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced today that Tiana Rambatomanga will join the Firm as a partner in the Asset Management group. She will be based in the Paris office. Tiana’s practice covers all segments of private equity, with a particular focus on infrastructure, debt and real estate. Representative clients include Mirova, Indigo, European Investment Bank, Eurazeo and Peugeot Invest. She will work alongside Nathalie Duguay, a recognized market leader who is known for her long-standing work with clients such as 21 Central Partners, Abenex, Apax Partners, BlackFin Capital Partners, PAI Partners, Sagard, and Wendel, among others. Tiana and Nathalie have known each other for nearly two decades, having initially worked together in 2004. Together, they intend to continue the development of Willkie's asset management platform in Paris. Tiana holds a postgraduate degree in business law and economics from the University of Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne and an LLM in international and comparative business law from London Metropolitan University. She practiced at SJ Berwin / KWM, Ashurst and Clifford Chance before joining Stephenson Harwood in September 2017 to launch its Paris fund formation practice. Tiana is a member of Level 20, a European association that promotes the presence of women in the private equity industry, and is a member of the legal committee of France Invest. She regularly lectures on investment funds and GP/LP relationships in France and the UK (Master ESCP Paris, MBA Oxford University) and has been involved in student mentoring programs to promote equal opportunities for many years. Tiana is recognized as one of the “next generation partners” in the Legal 500 EMEA 2021 Private Equity: Fund Formation ranking, a listing of the “great fund formation lawyers of tomorrow”. Nathalie Duguay says: “The term seamless collaboration takes on its full meaning with Tiana. Her arrival will bolster our practice, offering GPs an even higher level of service to help them raise their investment funds from recognized institutional investors.” Tiana Rambatomanga adds: “Nathalie and I have always maintained a common thread. The idea of working together again is not new and I look forward to combining our talents to strengthen and expand Willkie's offering.” Eduardo Fernandez and Christophe Garaud, co-managing partners of the Paris office, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Tiana. Her arrival is the culmination of our ambition to provide our clients in Paris and abroad with one of the best fund structuring platforms in Europe, echoing our US platform, and demonstrates our continued commitment to providing excellent service to our private equity clients. We are one of the very few firms that can serve all types of participants in the private equity industry in any type of transaction.” Willkie’s Asset Management Group of 90+ attorneys provides legal services to a wide array of clients in the asset management industry, including privately owned investment advisers, publicly traded asset management firms, broker dealers, insurance companies and banks, on subjects ranging from operations to fund formations, compliance and regulation. The group’s 250+ clients include funds, advisers and/or independent directors of more than 30 of the world’s most prominent asset management firms with AUM ranging from $4 billion to nearly $7 trillion. With a team of more than 45 attorneys in New York, Washington, London and Paris, the firm’s private equity fund formation practice group represents over 130 clients. Over the past two years, the firm has advised sponsors on forming over 75 funds. **************************** Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm of approximately 1000 attorneys with offices in Brussels, Chicago, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Rome, San Francisco and Washington. The Firm is headquartered in New York City at 787 Seventh Avenue. Tel: +1 212.728.8000. The Paris office's main practice areas include private equity, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, asset management, competition law, banking and finance, project finance, public law, corporate restructuring and insolvency, litigation, international arbitration, white-collar crime and tax.

Sep 10

3 min

PAI, a leading private equity firm with strong experience in the food and beverage space and longtime Willkie client, will be the majority shareholder of the transferred business. On August 3, it was announced that PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) has entered into an agreement with longtime Willkie client PAI Partners to sell Tropicana, Naked and other select juice brands across North America, and an irrevocable option to sell certain juice businesses in Europe, which will result in combined pre-tax cash proceeds of approximately $3.3 billion while retaining a 39% non-controlling interest in a newly formed joint venture. PAI, a leading private equity firm with strong experience in the food and beverage space, will be the majority shareholder of the transferred business, with PepsiCo retaining exclusive U.S. distribution rights to the portfolio of brands in its best-in-class, chilled Direct Store Delivery for small-format and foodservice channels. These juice businesses delivered approximately $3 billion in net revenue in 2020 with operating profit margins that were below PepsiCo's overall operating margin in 2020. PepsiCo expects to use the proceeds from the sale of these assets primarily to strengthen its balance sheet and to make organic investments in the business. The transaction is expected to close in late 2021 or early 2022, subject to customary conditions, including works council consultations and regulatory approvals. PAI Partners is a pre-eminent private equity firm, investing in market-leading companies across the globe. PAI manages around €15 billion of dedicated buyout funds and, since 1994, has completed 84 investments in 11 countries, representing over €65 billion in transaction value. PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. The company generated more than $70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream. The cross-border, multidisciplinary Willkie deal team is led by partners Robert Rizzo in New York and Faustine Viala in Paris, and includes partners Nathalie Duguay, Morgan McDevitt, Erin Kinney, Jeffrey Korn, Philipp Girardet, Eugene Chang, Geri Anne McEvoy and Russell Pinilis.

Aug 3

2 min

Willkie advised Abénex on the structuring and fundraising of its flagship fund Abénex VI with a total commitment of €600 million. France-based Abénex received support from its long-standing investors, approximately half of which are established outside of the country. Abénex VI follows Abénex V, also advised by Willkie, that reached a final closing at €425 million in 2017. Abénex is a historical player in the small and mid-cap private equity market, specialized in growth and buyout transactions in Europe, both as a minority and majority shareholder. A long-term investor, Abénex partners with entrepreneurs and founding families, and is focused on growth and operational optimization projects. Abénex typically invests in SMEs valued up to €50 million in small-cap and between €50 million and €300 million in mid-cap. Abénex also manages real estate funds. Willkie’s fund formation team was led by partner Nathalie Duguay and included associates Anthony Civico and Marie-Charlotte Inedjian.

Dec 5

1 min