Sarah Michel

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. She 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, secondary funds, infrastructure funds, fund of funds, mezzanine 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’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 fundraising of its third fund, Artemid Senior Loan III, with a total commitment of almost €600 million
• BEX Capital in the fundraising of BEX Fund V, with a total commitment of $765 million
• Cerea Partners, in:
  • the first closing of Cerea Dette III, raising €215 million
  • the first closing of Cerea Capital III, raising over €180 million
  • the fundraising of Cerea Mezzanine IV, with a total commitment of €300 million
  • and Demeter Investment Managers in relation to their merger to create Demea Invest
• Chequers Capital, in: 
  • the fundraising of Chequers Capital XVII with a total commitment of €1.1 billion
  • the fundraising of Chequers Capital XVIII, with a total commitment of €1.2 billion
• CIC Private Debt in the fundraising of CIC Mezzanine & Unitranche Financing Fund 6, with a total commitment of €610 million
• 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
  • in relation to Armen’s equity investment in the firm
• Latour Capital, in:
  • the fundraising of its third generation of funds Latour Capital III, with a total commitment of €1+ billion
  • the fundraising of its fourth generation of funds for a total amount of €1.2 billion. Coupled with an additional €400 million from co-investments, Latour Capital secured aggregate commitments of €1.6 billion
  • in relation to a minority investment from AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) and Patria GPMS
  • the formation of a single-asset continuation fund to support Gutor’s next phase of growth
• 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, with a total commitment of €570 million
• Naxicap Partners in the fundraising of Naxicap Investment Opportunities II, for a total amount of €856 million. Coupled with an additional €700 million from co-investments and specific mandates, Naxicap Partners secured aggregate commitments of €1.5 billion
• Quantonation Ventures in the €220 million fundraising of Quantonation II
• Rothschild & Co in the fundraising of Five Arrows Principal Investments III (FAPI III), with a total commitment of €1.25 billion

Sarah is recognized in her field by International preeminent, peer-reviewed publications. Her recent recognitions include:

• Top ranked as Leading individual in Private Equity: Fund formation in the last edition of the Legal 500 EMEA (France) guide
• Ranked in Band 3 in Investment Funds in the last edition of the Chambers France guide

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.

Speaking engagements

• Speaker, LBO Conference, Les Echos - Capital Finance, June 2024
• Speaker, LBO Conference, Les Echos - Capital Finance, April 2023