Secondaries

As private markets as a whole have matured, our clients have increasingly sought liquidity and exit solutions that are more calibrated to their needs. The private markets secondaries industry has been growing substantially over the past few years, with record-breaking secondaries transaction volume in 2025, exceeding $226 billion — a 41% increase year over year from a similarly record-breaking 2024 volume, which reached $165 billion.

Goodwin is exceptionally responsive and cost-effective. They have a deep understanding of the market and are commercially-oriented.

Chambers

Named among the top secondaries firms in the world by Secondaries Investor’s 2025 Law Firm Survey, Goodwin is at the forefront of the surge in secondary transactions globally. In this ever-evolving market, the level of sophistication of the players and the complexity of the transactions require effective counsel that can produce high-quality results based on real-world experience and market knowledge. We have handled more than $33 billion of secondary transaction volume in the past year alone, across more than 100 secondaries transactions, with secondaries clients in Chambers complimenting our team’s “outstanding service on a wide variety of issues” and “great attention to detail and wise advice from a practical and business perspective.”

They are… very knowledgeable in the field of secondaries, and this is their bread and butter.

Legal500

Goodwin’s Secondaries practice brings together a global team of lawyers with extensive experience in domestic and cross-border secondaries transactions. We collaborate across our award-winning investment funds as well as transactional and finance practices to provide advice tailored to our clients’ transactions, whether aimed at liquidity, defensive capital, or offensive capital.

With decades of experience across private equity, real estate, credit, healthcare, infrastructure, and venture capital, our lawyers are immersed in the commercial realities of these asset classes, leveraging longstanding, deep relationships with some of the most active sellers, investors, and intermediaries.

We cover all types of secondaries, stakes, and alternative financing transactions across our US, European, and Southeast Asian offices, acting both buyside and sellside.

Our work for clients includes:

• Continuation funds
• GP stake sales and succession planning
• LP portfolio sales, including stapled fundraisings
• Financing solutions, including preferred equity and NAV-based facilities
• Strip sales
• Tender offers
• Secondary directs