Nicole Washington, P.C.
Overview
Nicole Washington is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she is a key member of the Firm’s Investment Funds Group. Nicole regularly represents domestic and international sponsors on forming, marketing and operating private investment funds, including buyout, secondary, direct lending, special situations, growth, mezzanine, opportunistic, real estate, infrastructure and other private investment vehicles, as well as on structuring, regulatory and compliance issues. Nicole advises private investment funds on a range of complex business transactions in the secondary market, including structured secondaries, fund recapitalizations and restructurings, and other GP-led transactions. She also advises some of the world’s most sophisticated private fund sponsors on internal management and succession planning, strategic investments, co-investment arrangements, joint ventures, and other investment management matters.
Nicole’s experience includes representing some of the largest and most diversified asset managers, as well as numerous small and middle-market managers on the formation of private investment funds ranging from several hundred million to multibillion dollars. In addition, Nicole has significant experience advising emerging managers in establishing asset management firms and raising first-time funds.
Nicole is “very experienced and a fantastic attorney” according to Chambers USA where she was ranked as a leading attorney and called out for “her strong practice advising on fund formation matters, including early-stage fundraises.” Nicole was also named to Crain’s New York list of Notable Woman in Law and Savoy 2022 Most Influential Black Lawyers. In 2021 she was profiled as one of Law360's Fund Formation MVPs, one of the most coveted awards that recognizes leading lawyers for their involvement in record-breaking deals and complex global matters. In 2021 she was also recognized as a 'Rising Star' by New York Law Journal as part of the 2021 New York Legal Awards and recognized as a ‘Next Generation Lawyer’ by The Legal 500 US. In 2020, Nicole was named by Law360 to the Fund Formation “Rising Stars” list, an annual ranking that recognizes outstanding legal talent under 40 years old. Nicole was also recognized for her commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in law in Corporate Counsel where she was named as an honoree in the “Collaborative Leadership” category as part of the Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards 2020. Nicole was recognized by The Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) as one of the 2021 “Catalysts in Law.” Honorees were recognized for achieving extraordinary professional success while making significant and impactful contributions to their community through volunteerism, philanthropy, board service and mentorship.
Nicole serves as co-chair of Kirkland’s Transactional Associate Review Committee, Billings and Collections Committee and New York Recruiting Committee; and is a member of Kirkland’s Committees on Diversity and Inclusion and Firmwide Recruiting. She serves on the Board of Directors of PeacePlayers International, Just the Beginning, and New Alternatives for Children; is on the Board of Trustees of Bennett College and the Museum of the City of New York; is a member of the Advisory Board of Asian University for Women; and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of Women in Secondaries.
Select Representative Clients
Antara Capital, Ares, Ariel Investments, BC Partners, Cartesian Capital, Cerberus, Clearlake Capital, GPI Capital, Hildred Capital Partners, KKR, Landmark Partners, Leeds Equity Partners, Macquarie, Newstone Capital Partners, Pátria Investments Ltd., Round Hill Music, TPG Capital, Veritas Capital and Whitehorse Liquidity Partners.
Experience
Representative Matters
Ariel Alternatives on its $1.45 billion closing of “Project Black” fund, the first private equity initiative of Ariel Investments, which seeks to transform middle market companies into certified minority enterprises of scale that can serve as Tier 1 suppliers to the Fortune 500
Clearlake Capital Group on multiple fund formations and transactions, including:
- The formation of Clearlake Capital Partners VII, a $14+ billion buyout fund
- The formation of Clearlake Flagship Partners Fund, a $1.4 billion market dislocation fund
- The formation of Clearlake Capital Partners VI, a $7+ billion buyout fund
- The sale of a minority stake to Dyal Capital Partners and Petershill
Clearlake Capital Group on five separate single-asset secondary transactions, titled its “Icon” series of transactions, with a combined value of over $7.5 billion. The Icon transactions include:
- The sale of Ivanti (Icon I) for an aggregate value of $1.25 billion. The transaction is one of the fastest-ever GP-led secondary deals to date and was named “Secondaries Deal of Year in Americas” in 2020 by PEI Secondaries
- The sale of Precisely (Icon II) for an aggregate value of $1.6 billion
- The sale of Wheel Pros (Icon III) for an aggregate value of $1.1 billion
- The sale of DigiCert (Icon IV) for an aggregate value of $2.5 billion. The transaction is one of the largest-ever completed of this type of deal
- The sale of symplr (Icon V) for an aggregate value of $1.5 billion
KKR in its investment in Cotiviti, a provider of healthcare data and technology
KKR on the formation of multiple open-ended funds, co-investment funds and funds of one
Landmark Partners on the formation of Landmark Real Estate Fund VIII, with commitments of $3.3 billion
Patria Investments Ltd. in connection with the cross-border restructuring of Patria’s flagship private equity funds
Veritas Capital on the formation of multiple funds, including:
- Veritas Capital Fund VIII, a $10.65 billion buyout fund
- Veritas Capital Fund VII, a $6.5 billion buyout fund
- Veritas Capital Fund VI, a $2.5 billion buyout fund
- Veritas Capital Vantage Fund, an inaugural $1.8 billion buyout fund
- Veritas Capital Credit Opportunities, a $500 million credit fund
Whitehorse Liquidity Partners on the formation multiple funds, including:
- Whitehorse Liquidity Partners IV, a $4 billion secondaries fund
- Whitehorse Liquidity Partners III, a $2 billion secondaries fund
- Whitehorse Liquidity Partners II, a $1 billion secondaries fund
Prior Experience
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
More
Thought Leadership
Seminars
Moderator, "Q&A with Keynote Speaker Howard Sanders, Founder & Managing Director of Auldbrass Partners," 2022 Wharton Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference, April 1, 2022
Speaker, “Managing Your Firm’s Financial Assets: Management Fees and Waterfalls,” NAIC Next Generation of Private Equity Firms Symposium, March 2022
Speaker, “Fund Formation Legal Considerations,” NAIC Next Generation of Private Equity Firms Symposium, March 2022
Panelist, “Unconventional Paths to Liquidity,” ICR Conference 2022, January 2022
Moderator, “The GP-led Secondary Deal: Ensuring that it Works For Your Firm, Your LPs, and Your Companies,” Women’s Private Capital Summit, November 2021
Speaker, “Recent Boom in Secondaries Fund Formation Platforms,” Liquidity Solutions Academy, November 2021
Speaker, “Cross-Fund Sales: No Longer Taboo?,” The Weekly Knockout (Kayo Conference Series), August 2020
Speaker, “Unconventional Paths to Liquidity: Fund-Related Solutions to Exiting Portfolio Companies,” Kirkland & Ellis Webinar, August 2020
Speaker, “Continued Momentum of the Closed-End Fund Market,” Maples Investment Funds Forum, February 2020
Keynote Speaker, Columbia Business School, 26th Annual Private Equity Conference, February 2020
Moderator, “Breaking the Private Equity/Alternatives Glass Ceiling: Why Women Investing in Women-Led Firms Is the Answer,” Women’s Alternative Investment Summit, November 2019
Speaker, “Legal Matters: Fund Formation Considerations,” NAIC Next Generation of Private Equity Firms Symposium, May 2019
Speaker, “Private Debt Outlook: What are the Latest Developments,” LPGP Connect Women in Private Debt, May 2018
Moderator, “Plenary Panel: Institutional Investor Perspectives,” 3rd Annual Kayo Women’s Energy Investment Summit, June 2017
Panelist, Harvard Business School, 22nd Annual Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference, March 2016
Panelist, Maples and Calder, Maples FS, Maples Investment Funds Forum, February 2016
Press Mentions
Quoted, “Story of the Year: Continuation Funds on the Rise,” Private Equity International, December 2021
Quoted, “Trends and Developments in Secondary Fund Formation Platforms,” Private Equity Law Report, December 2021
Quoted, “What Will the Secondaries Market Look Like in 2022?,” Secondaries Investor, December 2021
Quoted, “Wins Network Launches to Promote Women in Secondaries,” Secondaries Investor, March 2021
Recognition
Recognized in Chambers USA for Private Equity: Fund Formation, 2022–2024
“Most Influential Black Lawyers” by Savoy, 2022
“Notable Women in Law” by Crain’s New York, 2022
“MVPs of the Year” in Fund Formation by Law360, 2021
“Catalysts in Law” by Council of Urban Professionals, 2021
“Rising Star” by New York Law Journal, 2021
“Next Generation Lawyer” by The Legal 500 US, 2021–2024
“Rising Star” in Fund Formation by Law360, 2020
Honoree in Collaborative Leadership by Corporate Counsel, 2020
Memberships & Affiliations
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- District of Columbia
- New York
Education
- Harvard Law SchoolJ.D.
- Columbia UniversityB.A., Political Science