Rajib Chanda

Partner

900 G Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20001

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1-202-636-5543

Fax: +1-202-636-5502

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Hailed as a “Trailblazer” by the American Lawyer for his legal contributions to the democratization of access by ordinary investors to private markets investments, Rajib heads Simpson Thacher’s Registered Funds practice and is Co-Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office. Rajib has helped asset management firms design, develop and structure investment products that have been publicly referred to as “revolutionary,” “category-killing” and “the fund innovation of the year.” Rajib regularly represents the leading asset management firms in the world, including recent representations of Apollo, Artisan Partners, BC Partners, Benefit Street, BlackRock, Blackstone, Blue Owl, Carlyle, Cohen & Steers, Coller Capital, Diameter Capital, EQT, Golub, HarbourVest, HPS, Irradiant Partners, JPMorgan Asset Management, KKR, Lexington Partners, Morgan Stanley, New Mountain, Onex Credit, Principal, Sixth Street Partners, SkyBridge Capital, Starwood Capital Group, Stonepeak, TPG, TPG Angelo Gordon and Vista, among many others.

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Work Highlights

Counsel to sponsors of BDCs, including Blackstone, Sixth Street Partners, Golub Associates, New Mountain, TPG Angelo Gordon, Benefit Street, Carlyle, BC Partners, Onex Credit, Irradiant Partners and Diameter Capital
Counsel to sponsors of registered funds, including Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle, JPMorgan, Coller Capital and Artisan Partners
Counsel to sponsors of operating companies that own real estate, infrastructure or private equity assets, including KKR, Apollo, Blackstone, Starwood, Blue Owl, Morgan Stanley and Cohen & Steers
Business development company transactional matters, including representation of Blackstone/GSO with respect to its separation from the Franklin Square funds; Oaktree in its acquisition of the Fifth Street BDC relationship; BC Partners in its externalization of the management of the former KCAP BDC and the subsequent public BDC acquisitions of several other public BDCs; Benefit Street in the merger of its BDCs; and KKR in its transaction to become sole adviser to Corporate Capital Trust
Asset management joint ventures, including Carlyle in its joint venture with OppenheimerFunds to launch an interval fund, KKR in its joint venture with iCapital with respect to the iCapital KKR Commitments Fund (a tender offer fund), and Ares in its joint venture with CION to launch an interval fund
Acquisitions and sales of asset management businesses, including MassMutual in the sale of OppenheimerFunds to Invesco; Oaktree in its merger with Brookfield; and Blackstone and Corsair Capital, in their majority investment in First Eagle Investment Management
Counsel to fund boards, including the Independent Trustees of the Stone Ridge Funds

Accolades

Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (since 2017); Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business (since 2020)
IFLR1000: The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms, Market Leader (since 2019); Highly Regarded (2018); Leading Lawyer (2017); Rising Star (2014-2016)
The Legal 500 United States (since 2014; Leading Lawyer since 2023)
Independent Counsel of the Year, Mutual Fund Industry Awards, Winner, 2018; Nominee, 2016, 2020 and 2023

Education

Harvard Law School, 2000 J.D.
cum laude; Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Negotiation Law Review; Hewlett Foundation Law & Negotiation Fellow
Brown University, 1997 A.B. (Economics)
with honors

Associations

Board Member, National Symphony Orchestra
Advisory Board, Mutual Fund Directors Forum
Member, ABA Task Force on Fund Directors
Member, Fund Board Views’ Editorial Think Tank
Member, Fund Directions’ Advisory Board

Admissions

New York 2012
District of Columbia 2005
Massachusetts 2001

Rajib has helped asset management firms design, develop and structure investment products that have been publicly referred to as “revolutionary,” “category-killing” and “the fund innovation of the year.” Rajib also advises firms on M&A transactions in the asset management industry (acquisitions, minority investments and joint ventures).

Rajib regularly represents the leading asset management firms in the world, including recent representations of Apollo, Artisan Partners, BC Partners, Benefit Street, BlackRock, Blackstone, Blue Owl, Carlyle, Cohen & Steers, Coller Capital, Diameter Capital, EQT, Golub, HarbourVest, HPS, Irradiant Partners, JPMorgan Asset Management, KKR, Lexington Partners, Morgan Stanley, New Mountain, Onex Credit, Principal, Sixth Street Partners, SkyBridge Capital, Starwood Capital Group, Stonepeak, TPG, TPG Angelo Gordon and Vista, among many others.

Rajib is highly-ranked by Chambers USA, which reports that clients highlight that “his expertise in regulated funds and knowledge of the markets is very valuable” and “he knows the market inside and out and is highly commercial.” He is also recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” by The Legal 500, which reports that he is “an industry thought leader who provides cutting edge advice on the most difficult questions.” He is one of only three registered funds attorneys in the United States designated as a “Market Leader” by IFLR 1000. Rajib also provides counsel to boards of registered funds, and has been nominated four times for the Independent Counsel of the Year award at the Mutual Fund Awards, winning in 2018.

Rajib leads the Firm’s Partner Development Committee, and has previously served as the Administrative Partner for the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office, Firm Hiring Partner and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Diversity Committee.