Kate Downey Bio

Kate Downey advises fund sponsors and financial institutions on the structuring, formation, and raising of funds across a range of asset classes, including private equity, venture and growth, infrastructure and energy, credit, and real estate. As the head of our European Private Equity Funds Practice, Kate also counsels fund managers on carried interest, co-investment, and other incentive arrangements, and has also acted on a range of other international private equity transactions, including secondary portfolio acquisitions and synthetic secondaries, fund and management company restructurings and spin-outs. Chambers UK recognizes Kate in the Investment Funds: Private Equity (UK-wide) category (Band 1) and in Investment Funds: Private Equity: Credit Funds (UK-wide) (Band 1). The publication describes Kate as “a seriously phenomenal lawyer” and praises her for being “super knowledgeable and really, really commercial: more so than anyone…in the UK investment funds market.” She is also praised for being “extremely practical, pragmatic and calm problem solver” with a “special ability to cut through a lot of confusion and noise in a room and to boil it all down to the real nub of the question.” The Legal 500 UK recognizes Kate in the Investment Funds - Private Funds category (Hall of Fame) and quotes “the team is spearheaded by a very strong leader in Kate Downey,” mentioning her “knowledge of the market is excellent and her advice second-to-none.” The 2021 edition of Who’s Who Legal: Private Funds recognizes Kate as a “leading light,” touting her top-drawer advice on secondary acquisitions, private equity transactions, and co-investment arrangements, as well as her “sterling work on the Women in Fund Finance Initiative,” a group focused on the recognition and promotion of women leaders within the alternative investment fund finance industry. Kate is also recognized by Who’s Who Legal as a Formation – EMEA Global Elite Thought Leader. In addition, Kate is ranked by Best Lawyers in its UK 2022 edition for Investment Funds and was named to the “Hot 100” list in The Lawyer in 2019. She is recognized by Expert Guides for investment funds and women in business law, and was included in Financial News “40 under 40” list of rising stars in the legal industry. She has also earned accolades from Chambers Europe, IFLR 1000 as Market Leader, and IFLR1000 Woman Leaders, most recently in 2021, PLC Which Lawyer?, and Legal 500 US. Kate received the 2019 Dee Dee Sklar Women in Fund Finance Award, recognizing her outstanding overall contribution to women in the industry.