Sarah Michel is a partner in Goodwin’s Private Equity group and a member of the Private Investment Funds practice in Paris.
She represents many of the most prominent and leading French and European investment funds on all aspects of their fund business including fund formation and structuring, carried-interest schemes for management teams, structuring co-investments, reorganizations and restructurings. Sarah also assists French and European clients with respect to their regulatory issues.
Sarah advises private investment funds across a wide variety of strategies: buyout funds, venture/tech funds, real estate funds, infrastructure funds, fund of funds, mezzanine funds, secondary funds, debt funds, and distressed funds.
Sarah has also been advising clients in connection with secondary transactions, including traditional portfolio sales, preferred equity, continuation funds and GP-led transactions. She is an active member of Goodwin’s market-leading global secondaries practice.
Prior to joining Goodwin in 2017, Sarah was an associate at King & Wood Mallesons (formerly SJ Berwin).
Sarah is fluent in French and English.
Experience
Sarah’s recent experience includes advising:
- Antin Infrastructure Partners in the fundraising of Antin Infrastructure Partners IV, with a total commitment of €6.5 billion.
- Artemid in the first closing of its third fund, Artemid Senior Loan III, with a total commitment of €400 million.
- BEX Capital in the fundraising of BEX Fund V, for a total amount of $765 million.
- Cerea Partners in the fundraising of Cerea Mezzanine IV, for a total amount of €300 million.
- Chequers Capital in the fundraising of Chequers Capital XVII, with a total commitment of €1.1 billion.
- EMZ Partners in the fundraising of EMZ 10, with a total commitment of €1.4 billion.
- Initiative & Finance in the fundraising of Tomorrow Private Equity Fund I (TPEF I), with a total commitment of €400 million.
- Jolt Capital in the €100 million extension of Jolt Capital IV, following the reopening of its fourth fund early 2023, to reach €371 million total.
- Latour Capital Management in the fundraising of its fourth generation of funds for a total amount of 1,2 billion euros. Coupled with an additional €400 million from co-investments, Latour Capital secured aggregate commitments of 1.6 billion euros.
- L Catterton Europe in the fundraising of its fourth Europe-focused fund, L Catterton Europe IV.
- Mérieux Equity Partners in the final closing of Merieux Participations 4, for a total amount of €570 million.
- Naxicap Partners in the fundraising of Naxicap Investment Opportunities II, with a total commitment of €856 million. Coupled with an additional €700 million from co-investments and specific mandates, Naxicap Partners secured aggregate commitments of €1.5 billion.
- Rothschild & Co in the fundraising of Five Arrows Principal Investments III (FAPI III), with a total commitment of €1.25 billion.
Credentials
Education
Graduate
Institut d’Études Politiques
Bordeaux
Master in Business and Tax Law
University of Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne
BAEuropean Studies and Modern Language
University of Northumbria
Admissions
Bars
- Paris, France
Recognition & Awards
Sarah is recognized in her field by International preeminent, peer-reviewed publications.
- Top ranked as Leading Individual in Private Equity: Fund formation in the last edition of the Legal 500 EMEA guide
- Ranked as Up and Coming in Investment Funds in the last edition of the Chambers Europe guide
- Recognized in Rising Stars: Europe's Best Up-and-Coming Female Lawyers for 2021 in Law.com
As a successful woman professional, Sarah is committed to promoting Women leadership both inside and outside of the firm. As such, she co-leads Goodwin’s Paris Women’s Initiative Committee and has been driving women-oriented mentoring sessions, client initiatives and networking opportunities.
Publications
- Speaker, LBO Conference, Les Echos - Capital Finance, June 2024
- Speaker, LBO Conference, Les Echos Capital Finance, April 2023