Stephenson Harwood and DLA Piper advise Bpifrance on the establishment of a French-Kuwaiti private equity fund

Law firms Stephenson Harwood LLP and DLA Piper have advised Bpifrance on the establishment of FKF, a French-Kuwaiti bilateral private equity fund.

Stephenson Harwood has advised Bpifrance in relation to the creation and launch of the fund, which is equally subscribed by Bpifrance and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA).

Bpifrance is one of the largest French public sector investment banks, with €52 billion in assets under management and more than 250 professional investors.

FKF, a bilateral French-Kuwaiti private equity fund, subscribed equally between Bpifrance and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) – Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund – as well as its French subsidiary, International Civil Company (ICC), will be managed by Bpifrance. It is a co-investment private equity fund which aims to invest 70% of its assets in small and midcap private equity and tech buyout funds, and 30% directly in unlisted French SMEs and medium-sized companies with high growth potential. It will assist French companies in their growth in the Middle East.

The Stephenson Harwood team was led by Julien Vandenbussche, who was assisted by Ngowari Adikibi, both of whom are Paris-based international funds partners.

DLA Piper advised Bpifrance on all tax aspects relating to the establishment of the fund with a team including Raphaël Béra, partner, and Thomas Guillier, counsel.

ICC and KIA were advised by Stéphane Chaouat and Alexandre Groult, partners, Stéphane Chaouat & Associés and by a team from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP led by Hanna Chalhoub, Edward Sopher and Jérôme Delaurière.

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