Laura Friedrich
Partner, Asset Management
Laura Friedrich is a partner in the Asset Management Department. Laura has extensive experience in the fund formation area, representing US domestic and international private investment fund sponsors, distributors and investors on formation, investment and regulatory matters. She advises US and international private equity, venture capital and hedge funds and their sponsors, with investments in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, working with both fund sponsors and investors in fundraising efforts for multibillion-dollar funds, as well as middle market, regional and sector-specific funds. She has represented sponsors across a variety of asset categories, including buyout, real estate, funds of funds, debt, energy, infrastructure, transportation and media.
Laura also counsels funds and their sponsors on a broad range of business and transactional matters (including co-investments), internal management, and regulatory and compliance issues.
Chambers USA (2023) ranks Laura among the leading individuals practicing in the area of Private Equity: Fund Formation. She is also recognized as a leading practitioner in Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law by Best Lawyers in America (2022-2023) and named as one of the Top 100 Female Lawyers in Latin America by Latinvex (2017, 2018, 2021 – 2023).
Experience
- Ranked in the area of Private Equity: Fund Formation in Chambers USA (2023)
- Recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law (2022-2023)
- Named as one of the Top 100 Female Lawyers in Latin America by Latinvex (2021, 2018 & 2017)
- Ranked as Leading Individual by Who’s Who Legal for Private Funds - Formation (2020)
- Recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. (2023) for Private Equity Funds (Including Venture Capital)
- Listed in Legal Media Group’s Women in Business Law Expert Guide (2020)
- Recognized for Investment Funds in Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides (2020)
Laura is a Member of the Private Investment Funds Forum and the New York City Bar Association Private Investment Funds Committee.
- "Advanced Issues in Private Funds 2020,” Practising Law Institute (webinar), June 2020
Laura has advised on the following significant matters*:
- A music company and a US-based private equity firm investing in music catalogs via a newly established platform launched with $750 million in investable capital
- A US financial institution in the formation of a hedge fund seeking to invest in a diverse portfolio of senior secured bank loans
- A US real estate fund manager in the structuring of a “qualified opportunity fund” organized as a REIT to invest in a portfolio of real estate assets in opportunity zones in the United States
- A US financial institution in the structuring of feeder funds for its high net worth client base to invest in private equity funds and real estate funds sponsored by global fund managers
- A US fund manager in the formation of a private equity fund targeting investments in pharmaceutical products and other assets in the life sciences industry
- An emerging markets fund manager in the structuring and formation of a private equity fund to make investments in Argentina
- A US financial institution in the formation of its third real estate fund
- A US fund manager in the formation of its first impact fund investing in mezzanine debt in Latin American and the Caribbean
- A US real estate fund sponsor in the structuring and formation of its first and second US residential property funds
- A joint venture between a global financial institution and a Brazilian fund manager to sponsor a single asset investment vehicle
- A development finance institution in the formation of a target US$1 billion emerging markets private equity fund targeting investments in Asia
- A prominent Brazilian fund manager in the structuring of a carried interest plan for partners and employees to participate in profits from its private equity and real estate funds
- A US fund manager in the establishment of a $4 billion natural resources fund
- A US family office in a seed investment in a real estate debt fund manager
- A Spanish fund of funds manager in the establishment of a U.S. office and the onboarding of a U.S. management team
- A development finance institution in the formation of an emerging markets private equity fund of funds targeting investee funds focused on resource-efficiency and development of low-emission products and services
- A European fund manager in the structuring of an investment program for US investors into a Luxembourg-based infrastructure fund
- A US family office in the structuring of an investment and profit-sharing vehicle
- A departing management team in its spin-out from a US financial institution and formation of an independent private equity firm
- A Peruvian sponsor in the structuring and formation of a $600 million PE fund to make primarily controlling investments in the securities of Peru-based companies
- An Eastern European sponsor in the structuring and formation of its second and third private equity funds targeting investments in Ukraine and Moldova
- A US sponsor in the structuring and formation of a captive private equity fund targeting investments in the media, telecommunications and entertainment industry
- A US sponsor in the structuring and formation of a private equity fund targeting investments in medium-sized companies in sub-Saharan Africa. The fund is expected to be partially financed by OPIC
- A prominent institutional fund sponsor and a departing management team in negotiating the utilization and ownership of an investment track record
- Private equity fund principals in the restructuring of management company interests to accommodate a capital investment
* Laura advised on some of these matters prior to joining Willkie.
Credentials
Education
University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 1996 University of California, Berkeley, A.B., 1993