Partner
Walid Sharara
Investment Funds & Private Wealth
Biography
Walid Sharara is an investment funds and private wealth lawyer advising fund sponsors, asset managers, AIFMs, family offices, fiduciaries and private clients on the structuring, governance and regulatory dimensions of cross-border investment platforms. His practice is centred on the design and implementation of durable legal and governance frameworks for private capital, alternative investment and wealth structuring strategies.
He advises across both open-ended and closed-ended structures, including UCITS, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, private debt and infrastructure funds, and regularly works with both regulated and unregulated Luxembourg vehicles, including SIFs, SICARs, RAIFs, Part II funds and bespoke alternative structures. Admitted to six bars across Europe and North America, Walid brings a distinctly international perspective to his practice and combines legal, regulatory and financial expertise in the development of integrated structuring solutions.
Walid began his career in the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., before moving into private practice with U.S., European and offshore law firms across multiple jurisdictions.
Prior to co-founding the firm, Walid was involved in a number of significant fund formation, financing and private wealth structuring matters.
Experience
Selected matters.
- Advising on the establishment of a first-of-its-kind Article 9 conservation fund designed to provide flexible financing solutions to tourism operators active around protected areas in Africa.
- Assisting an international sponsor with the structuring of Luxembourg closed-ended fund platforms with an aggregate target size exceeding €1.2 billion across private equity, real estate and private debt strategies.
- Representing family offices and private investors with combined deployable capital in excess of US$500 million on Luxembourg holding and investment structuring for private markets exposure.
- Acting for a private credit manager with more than US$8 billion in credit assets on the structuring of Luxembourg direct lending and opportunistic credit vehicles.
- Negotiating and implementing a subscription line facility of up to US$300 million with a U.S. governmental lender for an investment vehicle dedicated to strategic infrastructure projects in the Baltic region.
- Advising a founder-led family group on the establishment of a Luxembourg platform to centralise the ownership and governance of operating, real estate and investment assets with a combined value exceeding €250 million.
- Assisting with the formation of a Luxembourg continuation fund acquiring assets with an aggregate value of more than €550 million.
- Advising on a €450 million GP-led secondary transaction involving Luxembourg fund vehicles and related investor rollover arrangements.
- Structuring a €200 million cross-border joint venture platform for real estate and infrastructure investments across Europe alongside a leading European development finance institution.
- Assisting a European single family office with more than €250 million in deployable capital on the structuring of Luxembourg co-investment, holding and governance arrangements for direct and indirect exposure to private equity, infrastructure and private debt opportunities.
Credentials
Bar admissions
- Luxembourg (Liste VII)
- New York (Attorney at Law)
- Massachusetts (Attorney at Law)
- Ontario (Barrister and Solicitor)
- England & Wales (Solicitor)
- Ireland (Solicitor)
Education
- B.C.L./LL.B (with distinction), Faculty of Law, McGill University
- LL.M. in Banking and Financial Law, School of Law, Boston University
Professional affiliations
- CFA Institute – Walid is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
- Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) – Walid holds the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation.
Languages
- French
- English
Publications
Recent writing.
Publications coming soon.