Impact of and Trends in GP Stake Sales and M&A

In this interactive session, held on 18 November from 5:00-6:00 pm at the Hotel Café Royal London as part of the GPCA Investor’s Meeting, partners from Debevoise & Plimpton will examine recent trends in GP stake sales and asset management M&A.

Topics to be covered include:

• What is the impact of these transactions on fund managers and institutional investors? Is consolidation here to stay?
• What are the implications for longer-term liquidity?
• How can managers structure such transactions to ensure the retention of future investment professionals?

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Matt Dickman, a London-based partner and member of the firm’s Funds/Investment Management Group, advises on the formation, management and reorganisation of private investment funds. Mr. Dickman is also a leader in the firm’s Private Fund Transactions Group, where he regularly advises fund sponsors and investors on GP staking transactions, including internal reorganisations and internal economic and governance arrangements, as well as seed investments in emerging fund sponsors and secondary transactions. He is recommended by The Legal 500 UK (2024) as a Next Generation Partner, where clients value his “clear and commercial” advice. He is also recognised by Chambers Europe (2024) and Chambers UK (2024) as “a rising star of the next generation.”

Mr. Dickman represents a broad range of international private equity and other private investment funds and their sponsors, including recent experience advising technology and venture capital funds.

Mr. Dickman first joined Debevoise as an associate in 2012. He later became a partner at an international law firm in its San Francisco office before returning to Debevoise in London in 2018. This international experience gives Mr. Dickman a broad perspective on the funds markets in both the U.S. and Europe.

Mr. Dickman received his B.A. in 2000 from Dartmouth College, his M.B.A. in 2007 from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and his J.D. in 2007 from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He is admitted to the Bar in New York and California. He was previously a financial analyst in the mergers & acquisitions group of JP Morgan.

Geoffrey Burgess is a corporate partner with a broad international practice in Europe (including Russia), Africa and India, with particular focus in the private equity, TMT, healthcare and aviation industries. He is also a member of the firm’s ESG and Special Situations teams.

Mr. Burgess joined the firm in 1997 and has been resident in the London office since 1999. Mr. Burgess co-leads the India and Africa practice groups at Debevoise and is also a leader in the firm’s Private Fund Transactions Group, with a focus on GP replacement projects. He is a member of the Africa Venture Capital Association (AVCA), and previously served as co-chair of its Legal and Regulatory Committee. Mr. Burgess is a member of the London office’s pro bono committee and is a volunteer at law clinics for social entrepreneurship at unLtd and for disability benefits in Hammersmith & Fulham.

Mr. Burgess graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill B.Sc., with honors, Phi Beta Kappa, Morehead Scholar, and in 1993 received his J.D. from Columbia, where he was a Stone Scholar, received a Parker School Certificate in International Law and served on the Journal of Transnational Law as head notes editor, Parker School Journal of East European Law as founding managing editor and Survey of East European Law as managing editor. He was a Ford Foundation Fellow, Institute of State and Law (Moscow) in 1994.

Mr. Burgess is recommended for Private Equity by The Legal 500 UK (2024). He is also listed as a leading individual for his work in emerging markets, with clients noting that he is “a real stand out for his knowledge and experience but also for his wonderful negotiation and interpersonal skills.” He is said to be “a strong advocate who has worked extensively in emerging markets, including in Africa, and brings a commercial reasonableness to the table to get deals done.” Sources have also said that he “has been invaluable in navigating the complexities of emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East,” and that he is “responsible, thoughtful and commercial.” Mr. Burgess is also recommended for Private Equity and M&A by IFLR1000 (2022). India Business Law Journal also mentions that he is “highly regarded by Indian clients” and has named him to its “International A-List”, which recognises the top India-focussed lawyers at international firms. He is further recommended in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2023), where he has been described as “a brilliant M&A lawyer” and “highly accomplished and very innovative,” for his work in India. According to clients, he “provides practical, business-oriented advice in addition to an understanding [of] the legal complexities of emerging markets.” The 2017 edition of the guide praised him for being “an exceptional transactional lawyer with pragmatic business sense.” He was further noted as having “vast experience of Russian inbound and outbound transactions as well as India-related deals.” The guide has stated that he is known for a “broad-ranging Russia, CIS and India Practice.” It has also described him as “excellent and responsive” and “particularly distinguished by his ability to strategically navigate complex negotiations.” Mr. Burgess has been described as having “considerable experience in advising Russian clients from his London base.” Sources add that he enjoys a “huge amount of respect” and “stands out for his aviation experience,” though “his practice ranges from private equity and international mergers & acquisitions, to financings and joint ventures.”