Krishna R. Skandakumar

Krishna Skandakumar is a partner in Goodwin’s Private Investment Funds practice and advises sponsors throughout the entire lifecycle of a fund. Within his broader funds practice, Krishna specializes in advising clients in connection with secondary and related liquidity transactions. In the last five years alone, Krishna has assisted clients underwrite and close 29 single- and multi- asset continuation vehicle transactions, with aggregate transaction value of approximately $21.7 billion. In addition, Krishna has deep expertise in more traditional LP portfolio sales, having advised in over $1.3 bn worth of transaction volume in H1 2023.

Krishna brings a genuine global perspective on the market from his prior experience as a private equity and funds lawyer practicing in New York, London, Sydney, and Melbourne and advises fund sponsors in the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and emerging markets as well.

Krishna has a longstanding commitment to pro bono matters and is currently a director of AncestorsUnknown, a charity that seeks to advance historical education for people with diverse backgrounds. He has also represented clients, including Haymakers 4 Hope, a charity that raises funds for cancer research and care through amateur boxing events, Housing Conservation Coordinators, which focuses on advancing social and economic justice for low-income individuals and families, and UnionDocs, a non-profit center for documentary art.

Krishna’s secondary and liquidity transaction experience includes the representation of:

• Global asset manager on the restructuring of a portfolio of 40+ private equity fund interests held in six selling funds to a newly established continuation fund, led by Coller Capital as lead investor*
• Samara Capital on a multi-asset continuation fund transaction - the largest of its kind completed in India at the time - led by TR Capital as lead investor*
• Global asset manager on the sale of 150+ underlying fund positions held in eleven selling funds to a newly established continuation fund, led by Strategic Partners as lead investor*
• S3, as lead investor, in relation to its commitment to two Apogem continuation funds with a stapled commitment to a new primary fund*
• Mid-market shipping fund on the tender of $400 million of LP interests in flagship fund and sale to a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group as lead investor*
• Jasper Ridge Partners, as lead investor, in the purchase of a slice of Goldman Sachs private equity portfolio companies via a continuation fund with a stapled primary commitment to a Goldman Sachs fund*
• Numerous secondary investors (including Blackrock, Coller, S3 and Stepstone) with respect to the acquisition of LP portfolios (including by way of tender offer transactions)*
• Leading global bank on a secondary transaction for the disposal of a portfolio of c.50 private equity fund interests of over $1 billion to Lexington*
• European asset manager on the sale of a portfolio of fund interests ($360 million)*
• A leading secondary investor on the acquisition of ~$500 million of infrastructure interests via a newly established seller managed fund-of-fund vehicle*

Krishna’s fundraising experience includes the representation of:

• Global asset manager in relation to the establishment of its fourth and fifth generation of its global secondaries fund (target $500 million)*
• Mid-market credit manager in relation to the fundraising of its third flagship North American credit fund (hard cap $750 million)*
• Global asset manager in relation to the establishment of a Pan-European infrastructure fund (target €3 billion)*
• Mid-market infrastructure manager on the establishment of its second generation fund, which raised €1.25 billion in commitments*
• Global asset manager on the establishment of its flagship clean energy infrastructure funds (both North American and European strategies)
• A leading sovereign wealth fund in its commitment to large blue chip manager’s secondary fund with an additional $1 billion commitment to a separately managed account*

*Denotes experience prior to joining Goodwin

Prior to joining Goodwin, Krishna was senior counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in their Funds & Secondaries group. Previously, he was a senior associate at Clifford Chance in the firm’s Private Funds group in the New York and London offices and a senior associate at Hall & Wilcox Lawyers in the firm’s Financial Services group in Sydney and Melbourne.

• Quoted, “What is driving LPs to the secondaries market?,” Private Debt Investor, May 2024
• Co-Author, “Raising a secondaries fund: Ten considerations for investors and sponsors,” SecondaryLink, April 2024
• Co-Author, “VC secondaries: types, trends and a comparison to PE secondaries,” Reuters, December 2023
• Co-Author, “Asia Secondaries – Five Themes for ‘25,” SecondaryLink, November 2023
• Author, “The Year So Far: Top Five Legal Trends in GP-Led Secondaries,” Reuters, October 2023
• Co-author, “Managing and mitigating conflicts of interests in GP-led transactions,” Reuters, November 2022
• Co-author, “The Merits and Shortcomings of the Diligence-Lite Approach to GP-Led Transactions,” Private Equity Law Report, October 2022
• Co-author, “Top 10 considerations in private funds tender offer deals,” Reuters, September 2022
• Co-author, “GP-led secondary deals: to diligence or not to diligence?,” Reuters, June 2022
• Co-author, “SEC proposes new rules targeted at GP-led transactions,” Reuters, April 2022
• Co-author, “Countdown to launch: top 10 considerations in GP-led secondary deals,” Reuters, March 2022