John Berger

Kirkland & Ellis advised GCM Grosvenor, a global alternative asset management solutions provider, in connection with a strategic partnership between Excolere Equity Partners, a buyout investor in the education and human capital management sectors, and GCM Grosvenor’s Elevate strategy. GCM Grosvenor launched the Elevate strategy in January 2023 to make catalytic investments in emerging private equity firms, focused on lower and middle-market buyout strategies across industries. A strategic partnership with Excolere complements GCM Grosvenor’s 25-year history of partnering with emerging and diverse firm founders. As of June 30, 2023, GCM Grosvenor had more than $18 billion of assets under management (AUM) invested with small and emerging managers and over $15 billion of AUM with diverse managers. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners Peter Vaglio and John Berger and associate Andrew Medeiros, with support from tax partner Lee Morlock and associate Allison Bray.

Nov 8

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Kayne Anderson Private Credit, a middle-market private credit platform with $6 billion of assets under management, on a passive minority investment from Bonaccord Capital Partners, a private equity platform dedicated to acquiring non-control equity interests in leading private markets investment firms. Kayne Anderson Private Credit (KAPC) is a leading provider of financing solutions to middle-market companies across a wide array of industries. Bonaccord’s investment and strategic development platform will support KAPC’s value creation initiatives and further growth. KAPC will continue to be a part of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and there will be no change to KAPC’s investment process, day-to-day management or firm operations. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners Michael Reeves and John Berger, and included investment funds associates Todd Melchior, Irene Jeon and David Yona; and tax partners Lee Morlock and Andrew Chan and associate Shiyu Ni.

Nov 15

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners on a strategic minority investment in its business by funds managed by Wafra Inc. Thompson Street is a leading middle-market private equity firm based in St. Louis focused on investing in founder-led businesses in the healthcare, technology and business and consumer services sectors. Wafra is a global alternative asset manager with approximately $33 billion of assets under management. Wafra’s minority investment will support the scaling of the Thompson Street platform and the achievement of key strategic initiatives. Thompson Street’s investment processes, management and day-to-day operations will not be affected by this transaction. Read the joint press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partner John Berger and included corporate and investment funds partners Michael Reeves, Daniel Lavon-Krein, John Muno and Noah Mullin and associates Sarah Yang and Casey Prusher, tax partners Dan Meehan and Mike Conroy and associate Chris Worek, capital markets partner Julia Danforth and associate Sarah Byrd, investment funds regulatory partner Nick Hemmingsen and associate Danielle Sartain, and international trade & national security partners Mario Mancuso and Luci Hague and associate Chad Crowell.

Aug 11

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised private investment firm Arctos on the close of Arctos Sports Partners Fund II (“Fund II”), the latest iteration of its flagship sports fund. Fund II, along with co-investment and parallel affiliated vehicles, closed with over $4.1 billion in capital commitments from a diverse group of global investors, including some of the world’s leading pension funds, retirement systems, endowments, insurance companies, family offices and global wealth platforms. Approximately 30% of Fund II’s capital has been deployed across several investments, including Smith Entertainment Group, the holding company that owns Utah Jazz; Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, the owner of New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers; Paris Saint-Germain F.C.; and Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team. Read the Arctos' press release The Kirkland team was led by investment funds partners Patrick Valenti, Nadia Murad, Sam Scarcello and Jeff Kaplan and associates Margaret Waickman, Ross Greenspan and Heaven Chandler, with involvement from investment funds partners John O’Neil, Daniel Lavon-Krein and John Berger; regulatory partners Alpa Patel and Chris Pristouris; tax partners Don Rocap and Alec Campbell; and employee benefits partner Sabrina Glaser.

Apr 2

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Victory Park Capital, a global private credit manager, on its sale to Janus Henderson Group, a leading global active asset manager. Victory Park Capital has a nearly two decade-long track record of providing customized private credit solutions to both established and emerging businesses. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners John Berger and Pete Vaglio and associates Chao Zhang and Tyler Kuhn; investment funds partner Michael Snow; capital markets partner Pippa Bond and associates Van Whiting and Sarah Yang; tax partners Dan Meehan, Roger Lucas and Chris Odell; and investment funds regulatory partners Josh Westerholm and Michael Chu and associate Felix Jen.

Aug 13

1 min