Fund Finance

Chapman’s Fund Finance team provides sophisticated, commercially driven legal advice to financial institutions, private equity sponsors, and alternative lenders across a broad range of fund financing transactions.

With over 25 years of experience in structuring complex fund finance facilities, we are known for our practical insight and deep familiarity with fund structures and for providing tailored solutions that meet the needs of a dynamic and evolving market.

We have experience working with both domestic and international fund structures in a variety of investment strategies, including infrastructure, buyout, growth equity, venture, senior debt, and mezzanine. We also advise borrowers and lenders on credit structuring matters that arise from a fund’s investor base, including single investor funds, majority high net worth or family office investors, rated investors and international investors.

Our Funds Finance practice is complemented by Chapman’s extensive knowledge of private equity-related financings and investments, as well as our fund formation, tax, and regulatory colleagues. In addition, we regularly collaborate with the Chapman Practice Innovations Team to provide technology-based solutions to streamline workflows and utilize a team of analyst with fund financing training to efficiently and effectively complete large due diligence review projects.

Our Services

We advise on a full range of fund finance structures, including:

Subscription Credit Facilities: Capital call lines for private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and private credit funds - from bilateral deals to widely syndicated structures.

NAV and Hybrid Facilities: Credit facilities based on net asset value or blended collateral, often tailored to a fund’s life cycle and asset composition.

GP and Management Company Facilities: Lines of credit designed to provide liquidity for general partners, co-investment programs, and working capital needs.

Partner Loan and Co-Invest Programs: Structuring and documenting secured or guaranteed employee and executive loan programs.

Back Leverage Facilities:  Warehouse, note-on-note and other structured financings for private credit and real estate investment funds seeking liquidity solutions.

Product Innovation: Advising lenders on credit risk, programmatic terms and execution efficiencies to build out a fund finance platform.

Why Clients Choose Us

As a law firm focused on financial transactions, Chapman is ideally suited to counsel clients looking to capitalize on the ever-evolving fund finance landscape. The hallmark of Chapman’s Fund Finance team is providing highly skilled professional service informed by a deep understanding of our client’s business concerns and the current market.

Client-Focused: We take the time to understand each client’s business, investment strategy, and priorities. Our advice is responsive, solutions-oriented, and aligned with each client’s business objectives.

Integrated Thinking: Our fund finance lawyers work closely with our fund formation, tax, regulatory, and private equity teams to deliver comprehensive counsel and anticipate issues before they arise. We integrate best-in-class technology to streamline the speed and efficiency of fund finance transactions, alleviating pain points for stakeholders.

Market Insight: We have an expansive knowledge of the fund finance market and share our insights on emerging trends and experience working on innovative fund financing structures. Whether supporting lenders or fund sponsors, we offer current market perspective and vast experience on what it takes to get deals done.

Selected Transactions – Lender Representation

• Counsel to the agent and arranger in a $3.1 billion syndicated capital call line to a flagship fund with multicurrency availability.
• Counsel to the agent and arranger in a $2.9 billion syndicated subscription credit facility, with an accordion of up to $4 billion, to a flagship private equity fund organized in Delaware, with parallel funds organized in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.
• Counsel to a participant lender in a $2.3 billion umbrella credit facility with multiple fund groups.
• Counsel to the lender in a $200 million umbrella subscription line that includes an uncommitted tranche and an intercreditor arrangement with a NAV lender in the capital structure.
• Counsel to the agent in a $150 million capital call facility to real estate fund and REIT co-borrowers secured by collateral granted through a multiple-tier cascading pledge structure.
• Counsel to the agent and arranger in a $150 million syndicated management company line to a fund manager secured by multiple fee streams from affiliated fund entities.
• Counsel to a single lender in a $125 million capital call facility to private credit fund secured by collateral from multiple rated note feeder funds.
• Counsel to the lender in a bi-lateral $35 million hybrid credit facility to late-stage fund secured by distributions from investments and the investor’s capital commitments.
• Counsel to the lender in a bi-lateral $25 million subscription credit facility to a debt fund secured by capital commitments from a special managed account.
• Counsel to a lender providing a secured loan program to a private equity sponsor’s US and offshore based employees to bridge the employees’ capital contribution obligations to general partners of private equity and debt funds.

Selected Transactions – Borrower Representation

• Counsel to a secondaries focused multi-fund complex in a $540 million syndicated subscription facility.
• Counsel to a middle market buyout focused multi-fund complex in a $215 million subscription credit facility.
• Counsel to a special situations focused multi-fund complex in a $175 million syndicated NAV facility.
• Counsel to a cross-border technology focused multi-fund complex in a $125 million hybrid subscription credit facility and NAV facility.
• Counsel to a small business investment company fund in a $30 million subscription credit facility