Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP announced today that Chris Evans has joined the Firm’s New York office as a Partner on the Fund Transactions team. Chris joins the Firm from Blackstone.
“Asset managers are increasingly turning to minority stakes acquisitions and other related transactions to diversify and enhance growth as the industry develops and matures,” said Alden Millard, Chair of Simpson Thacher’s Executive Committee. “Chris’s versatile experience with respect to these complex GP stakes transactions and related strategic advice will be invaluable to our clients across the asset management industry, and we are delighted that he is joining the Firm.
Chris was most recently a Managing Director on the GP Stakes team at Blackstone, where he worked on sponsor minority stakes deals and advised Blackstone’s portfolio GPs on business strategy. Prior to Blackstone, Chris covered alternative asset managers in the investment banks at J.P. Morgan and Lazard, where he was an Executive Director and Vice President, respectively. Earlier in his career, Chris was a Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Treasury Department and spent several years in private practice, including as an associate at Simpson Thacher.
“Chris is well-known in the market for his commercial insight, and his multidimensional practice makes him a perfect complement to our deep Fund Transactions bench,” said Michael Wolitzer, Head of the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice. “Chris’s hire follows the recent addition of Adam Risell, who focuses on structured fund products. These hires are illustrative of the Firm’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that we are best positioned to meet the dynamic needs of the evolving asset management industry.”
“It has been a distinct privilege to be a part of the incredible Blackstone team,” said Chris. “Having had the pleasure to work alongside the Simpson Thacher team for many years, I’m excited to join this very talented group of lawyers.”
Simpson Thacher’s Fund Transactions Practice advises on complex control and minority-stakes transactions as well as the full breadth of secondaries transactions involving alternative asset managers, and preferred and structured financings for funds, their management companies and other industry participants. Drawing upon the Firm’s more than 40 years of experience in the private equity industry, the global team comprises funds, mergers and acquisitions, finance, tax and other lawyers who provide commercially-driven, comprehensive transactional advice for the world’s most sophisticated sponsors. The multidisciplinary team offers deep market knowledge and creative, tailored advice on transactions, including traditional and synthetic secondaries deals, GP-led restructurings, preferred equity transactions and other liquidity solutions.