Law firm Seward & Kissel formalized its private credit group to handle work within the rapidly expanding private credit asset class, which is now valued at $1.6 trillion, according to the firm. The group combines the knowledge of the attorneys in Seward & Kissel’s corporate finance group with the abilities of its investment management practice, offering services to asset managers engaged in the private credit sector as lenders, as well as to investors, borrowers and other participants in the industry.
“Economic and regulatory factors have attracted a variety of asset managers and investors to the benefits of private credit in recent years, including those who have traditionally focused on equity investments,” Kevin Neubauer, partner and co-head of Seward & Kissel’s investment management group, said. “We are uniquely positioned to serve all participants in the growing private credit markets, supporting them in connection with fund formation, structuring and negotiating a variety of loan and other financing transactions, as well as implementing their exit strategies.”
High interest rates, global instability, and other forces have all contributed to the boom in private credit, which grew at a 23% annual rate from 2020 to 2023, according to the firm. Seward & Kissel’s private credit practice will continue the firm’s work for lenders and other parties in a variety of industries using direct lending for acquisitions, working capital, rescue financing and other needs.
“We regularly execute private credit transactions across various industries from food delivery services to medical staffing,” Sophia Agathis, a partner in Seward & Kissel’s corporate finance practice, said. “This group formalizes our commitment to the private credit space and concentrates our knowledge in one interdisciplinary group for the benefit of asset managers, borrowers and others involved in private credit transactions.”
The new practice will reside within Seward & Kissel’s corporate finance practice and draw on the firm’s experience in areas including investment management, credit funds, business transactions, capital markets and corporate securities, private equity, real estate, corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, and tax.
