Standing out as an adviser of choice for many of the world’s most renowned investment funds, Walkers‘ expertise stretches from fund formation and capitalisation work, to assistance with financing and downstream transactions. A key differentiator is the firm’s risk and regulatory practice, which acts as an extension of the funds team. Caroline Williams is the senior relationship partner for a number of the group’s large and institutional private equity clients, while Melissa Lim is a leading name for relevant work at the intersection of finance and technology. Both Andrew Barker and Bicrom Das have wide practices, with the former bringing significant SPAC expertise to the group. Managing partner Ingrid Pierce and James Melen round out the roster of key senior contacts. In terms of more junior partners, Christine Ballantyne-Drewe and Matt Bernardo are highly recommended. Tim Buckley retired in mid-2023.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'The Walkers investment funds team is best in class. They have a deep bench of practical attorneys who are always available and at the top of their game substantively.'
'Melissa Lim is in a league of her own. She is very commercial, incredibly responsive, always thinking many steps ahead and is very user friendly to work with. I simply refuse to work on a Cayman Islands fund formation where she is not the lead partner.'
'They are very responsive and extremely commercial.'
'I have worked with Caroline Williams for almost 20 years, and she is among the best in the business. '
'We receive excellent services in a timely manner, there is no need for repetition, endless back and forth emails. We receive the advice needed with a proper turnaround time and cost, and with no risk as the firm has solid technical knowledge and advice for us.'
'We have worked with Bicrom Das for many years. There has never been an instance when Bicrom was not able to support us on the spot, produce documents or circulate templates, answers and reviews in a timely manner with the necessary sophistication imposed on us by the complex nature of our deals.'

Key clients

EJF Capital LLC
COVA Acquisition Corp.
Brown Brothers Trust Company (Cayman) Limited
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.
Brighton Park Capital Management, L.P.
GNI Group
Sumeru Equity Partners
PIMCO DISCO Contingent Capital Fund
Further Global Capital Management, L.P.
Capitalworks Investment Partners International Limited

Work highlights

Advising EJF Capital, a Cayman SPAC, on its listing and subsequent $8.5bn merger with Pagaya.
Instructed to act as Cayman legal counsel by COVA Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC listed on NASDAQ.
Advising Oaktree Acquisition Corporation II on its merger with Alvotech Holdings.