Hogan Lovells advised 62 secondaries deals in 2014

Global law firm Hogan Lovells advised on 62 secondaries transactions in 2014, a spokesperson from the firm told Secondaries Investor. 

The total value of the firm’s secondaries activity for the year amounts to £432.2 million ($655 million; €563 million) in terms of purchase price plus assumed unfunded commitments.

Transactions include advising a UK pension trustee on the sale of three private equity fund interests to a specialist secondaries fund and assisting a German institutional investor with the disposal of fund stakes in five European and US private equity funds.

“We are expecting to see more seeded funds using existing fund assets and other spin-outs this year. Investors are certainly looking at ways to find value creatively by structuring deals in a market where straight competitive auctions are leading to very aggressive pricing,” Hogan and Lovells partner Philip Brown said.

Hogan Lovells also advised on several secondaries infrastructure transactions in 2014. The firm worked with non-profit real estate firm Investors in the Community to sell a portfolio of public UK infrastructure projects using private capital. It also helped fund management company DIF sell 16 public-private partnership infrastructure assets to Aberdeen Asset Management and Dutch pension provider APG.

“The secondaries infrastructure market was buoyant in 2014, which led to an increase in valuations and reducing yields,” added Brown.

Last week, Secondaries Investor disclosed the volume of secondaries activity advised by five other law firms. Kirkland & Ellis surpassed the others, advising on 50 deals valued at an estimated $7 billion, according to partner Michael Belsley.