Sam Kay

Sam Kay

Partner

Sam is a partner in the Funds Department. He has over 20 years' experience advising on investment funds projects and has been a partner at Travers Smith since 2008.

He specialises in fund formation work for a wide range of private funds and asset management clients, predominantly in the private equity, private debt/credit, infrastructure, and real estate sectors.

He also works on GP-led transactions and secondaries (both buy-side and sell-side), carried interest arrangements and co-investment schemes, advising institutional investors on their participation in funds and internal restructurings such as succession planning and management spin-outs.

The industry leading publications Sam has contributed to this year include:

  • Unquote
  • Private Funds Management
  • Private Equity International
  • Chambers Global Practice Guide on Investment Funds.

Sam was also involved in speaker opportunities and training sessions such as:

  • Invest Europe fund structuring workshops and secondaries seminars
  • speaker at SuperInvestor conference in London.

Industry recognition

Sam is recognised as a 'Global Leader' for Private Fund Formation by Who's Who Legal 2021 and is also ranked in Chambers and Partners UK 2022.

Selected deals

  • Long-standing client Benson Elliot on the €830 million fundraising of Benson Elliot Fund V.
  • Hermes GPE on the GP-led secondary of a US$1 billion portfolio of a private equity funds of funds portfolio.
  • Abris Capital Partners on the fundraising of Abris CEE Mid-Market Fund III LP (€500 million).
  • Hermes GPE on the fundraising of its private equity co-investment fund, Hermes GPE PEC IV LP.
  • ADM Capital on the successful fundraising of Cibus LP, a private equity impact fund focused on agriculture and food chain investments.
  • Medicxi on the fundraising of its flagship fund, Medicxi III LP. (US$400 million)
  • Elysian Capital LLP on the fundraising of its third vintage fund Elysian Capital III LP. (€325 million)
  • Social enterprise fund manager, Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC), on the fundraising of Social and Sustainable Housing Fund.
  • Medicxi, the leading European life sciences investment firm, on a €200 million structured secondary transaction.
  • Melior Equity Partners on the fundraising of Melior Equity Partners II SCSp.

WHAT OTHERS SAY

Sam Kay is great to work with. He has a wealth of experience in the field and is very good at working through complicated problems to find a practical solution. He’s also very good at explaining complex points in an easy to digest way.
The Legal 500 2022
He knows our business extremely well and is well attuned to our risk appetite.
Chambers and Partners UK 2022
Highly commercial with an astonishing breadth and depth of knowledge - when clients call him, they know he will have a solution to their problem and if he does not, he will find one.
The Legal 500 UK
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