News & Analysis

Clifford Chance makes secondaries partner promotion

London-based Oliver Marcuse has worked on GP-led processes involving Mid Europa Partners and Arcus, as well as portfolio sales for LPs such as abrdn.

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Clifford Chance has made 37 promotions to partner, including a lawyer with secondaries expertise.

The Magic Circle law firm has promoted London-based Oliver Marcuse to partner, according to a statement. He specialises in complex secondaries transactions, as well as traditional M&A processes.

Among the deals he has advised on are a pair of GP-led processes on funds managed by MidEuropa Partners, Arcus Infrastructure Partners on an €800 million infrastructure tender offer led by APG Asset Management, and multiple portfolio sales involving limited partners such as abrdn and HSBC, according to his corporate biography.

The promotions took effect on 1 May.

In February, Marcuse told Secondaries Investor that there had been an uptick in sponsors opting for the M&A track over the GP-led track due to the belief it would generate a higher price and bring lower execution risk. “The clear advantage the M&A buyer has is the ability to move quickly – you don’t have the conflict concerns and you have quicker approvals processes,” he said.

Clifford Chance advised on $9.9 billion of secondaries transactions that closed in 2020, including four preferred equity and single-asset deals worth a combined $1.9 billion. It did not feature in last year’s survey.