In 2025, several landmark transactions and innovations shaped the private capital investment landscape, underscoring the evolving legal frameworks and financing structures supporting large-scale deals across Europe and the United States.
One of the most notable developments came in April, when the syndicated loan market was disrupted following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs, coined "liberation day" tariffs. These measures unsettled lenders and threatened to derail KKR’s €11 billion acquisition of Swedish healthcare firm Karo Healthcare. Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which had been advising the 10 banks underwriting the transaction, swiftly realigned its strategy. The firm transitioned to represent a group of private credit funds, successfully negotiating a single "unitranche" financing package. This structure combined what would traditionally be multiple debt facilities into one, enabling the banks to reduce their exposure to tariff-associated risks. This transaction highlighted the growing role of credit funds in underwriting complex, high-value acquisitions and marked a significant increase in unitranche deals throughout 2025.
Elsewhere, Latham & Watkins played a pivotal role in the public offering and financing of Verisure, a security services provider majority-owned by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. The firm advised H&F on Verisure’s €3.2 billion initial public offering on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Europe’s largest since 2022. In tandem, Latham orchestrated an additional €4 billion raised through syndicated loans and a high-yield bond secured against H&F’s minority stake post-IPO. This intricate financial arrangement required close collaboration across Latham’s teams and enabled H&F to enhance capital raised through the listing.
Other significant transactions and initiatives included Sidley Austin’s advisory role to European insurer Athora on its £5.7 billion acquisition of U.K. retirement savings group Pension Insurance Corporation. Athora’s concurrent €3.5 billion equity raise demanded careful management of cross-jurisdictional investor ownership thresholds.
Winston Taylor collaborated with Oxford Science Enterprises to formulate the legal framework for Tradeable Private Equity Investment Companies, adapting London Stock Exchange Group’s Pisces platform to enable more flexible trading of shares in qualifying offshore and unlisted companies on regulated platforms.
A&O Shearman supported Brookfield in establishing a strategic partnership and phased acquisition agreement with Barclays for its payments business amidst growing competition from fintech firms.
Freshfields guided Cinven through its majority stake acquisition in Grant Thornton UK by crafting an ownership framework that balanced private equity investment with the firm’s traditional partnership model; this approach was subsequently implemented in Germany and the Czech Republic.
King & Spalding advised on creating a revolving credit facility based on net asset value, an open-ended structure that differs from traditional closed-end fund models by allowing continuous investments and redemptions.
Macfarlanes facilitated the $5.5 billion close of Strategic Lending Fund 6 for London finance firm 17Capital, managing investor coordination across multiple jurisdictions with differing currency and leverage protocols following Oaktree Capital’s majority takeover of 17Capital in 2022.
Additional noteworthy engagements included Ropes & Gray advising Swedish investment firm EQT on its $3.2 billion acquisition of Coller Capital, designed to maintain Coller’s operational independence, and Abreu Advogados restructuring Generali’s acquisition of consultancy Decide by relocating it from Spain to Portugal to circumvent regulatory borrowing restrictions, followed by the issuance of a suitable bond structure.
Collectively, these transactions and frameworks from 2025 illustrate the dynamic nature of private capital markets and the innovative legal and financial solutions shaping cross-border investment and fundraising activities.