King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin has been awarded ‘Legal Advisor of the Year - Funds’ at Private Equity Africa’s third annual GP & Advisor Awards.
The Private Equity Africa Awards celebrate the best in-class global investors and advisors working solely on African-focused deals and funds. The awards, selected by a panel of independent judges, recognise the industry's contributions in shaping the increasingly competitive field of African private equity.
The firm was recognised for its expertise and depth in the African fundraising market and also its presence in the region, with dual qualified International Funds partner Cindy Valentine relocating to the continent a year ago in order to better serve the firm's African-focused clients. In winning this award, the firm demonstrated its strategic approach to negotiating with a range of investors that typically invest in African funds, and acted on a large number of African fund mandates, rivalling other top tier firms in the market. In the last 5 months alone, King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin has acted on first closes for four African focused funds of nearly USD800 million. The firm is currently acting for African focused fund managers targeting over USD4 billion in capital.
Jonathan Blake, head of International Funds at King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, said: “We are proud to have won this prestigious award which recognises the hard work and dedication of our Africa funds team. Private equity in Africa shows private equity at its best, making a strong contribution to the local economy, as it does all over the world, and we are delighted to be part if this growing industry."
This award follows a string of recent accolades for the International Funds team, including:
- ‘Law Firm of the Year in Europe (Fund Formation)’ for an unprecedented thirteenth consecutive at the 2014 Private Equity International awards;
- ‘Best Onshore Law Firm of the Year – Client Services’ at the MENA Fund Manager Fund Services Awards 2014
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