Press Release

06/29/06 - Vedder Price Announces Enhanced Fund Formation Group

30 Attorneys from Multiple Disciplines Involved in Hedge Fund and Private Equity Fund Formation

[Chicago, June 29] The law firm of Vedder Price announced an enhanced Fund Formation practice to service the fund formation and compliance needs of private equity and hedge funds. According to Firm President Michael A. Nemeroff, this practice “very nicely complements the Firm’s significant Private Equity, Capital Markets and Investment Services practices. We already represent hundreds of open- and closed-end registered mutual funds, and many hedge, venture capital and private equity funds,” Nemeroff added. “This team will focus exclusively on the creation of private equity, venture capital and hedge funds and the investment company, taxation, ERISA, corporate and securities issues related to the formation of such funds, drawing on our Midwest-leading investment services and private equity practices. No other Chicago law firm can match our blend of skills of over 30 attorneys practicing in these areas. As the lines between private equity and hedge funds blur even further, Vedder Price will be at the intersection of these two powerful market forces.”

Key members of the fund formation team include: Dalius F. Vasys; Deborah Bielicke Eades; David A. Sturms; Ernest Torain, Jr.; Matthew Larvick. Detailed biographical information about the fund formation team members is set forth below.

Dalius F. Vasys, Shareholder, has extensive experience in complex securities, partnership and limited liability company transactions with a special emphasis on the representation of private equity and venture capital funds. He has been involved in the formation and the private placement of securities of many funds with different types of structures and investment objectives, including most recently a fund to make minority investments in de novo community banks, a fund to invest in securities, loans and aircraft assets in the commercial airline sector, a fund to invest in micro-cap public companies and a fund to make opportunistic investments in various industries. He also has advised fund management with respect to management fee structures, employment arrangements, fiduciary obligations and investor-related matters. Mr. Vasys also has broad experience representing funds in the acquisition and disposition of portfolio investments.

Deborah Bielicke Eades, Shareholder and former corporate counsel at Janus Capital Corporation. Ms. Eades has extensive experience in all aspects of hedge fund, mutual fund and investment adviser regulation and compliance, including product design, federal and state registration, representation of fund boards, portfolio compliance and trading matters, derivative instruments, affiliated transactions and general regulatory matters. She has represented clients on a broad range of matters, including: the handling all aspects of the formation of registered investment companies and private funds (including hedge funds), leading several innovative closed-end fund offerings and leverage transactions and handling all aspects of formation of SEC, state and exempt investment advisers. Ms. Eades also has significant experience advising investment companies and investment advisers on all aspects of ongoing compliance matters, including drafting and reviewing compliance policies and procedures, developing compliance programs for investment companies and investment advisers, assisting clients in annual compliance reviews and conducting mock SEC exams.

David A. Sturms, Shareholder and chair of the Firm’s Investment Services Group. Prior to joining Vedder Price in 1994, Mr. Sturms was a principal of an investment management firm, Stein Roe & Farnham. Mr. Sturms has extensive experience in advising investment companies and investment advisers on all aspects of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Mr. Sturms recently served on the American Bar Association Task Force that drafted the Fund Director’s Guidebook (2006) and is nationally-recognized in the area of government regulation of public and private funds.

Ernest Torain, Jr. joined Vedder Price from the law firm of Katten Muchin in 2004. He is a corporate securities lawyer by training with a significant concentration in the area of private equity funds and has worked on the formation of various well-known funds. Mr. Torain also represents both companies and investment banks with respect to public offerings, PIPEs, private placements and related securities matters. He has broad experience in managing the SEC registration and private placement process.

Matthew Larvick, Shareholder and a tax specialist from McDermott Will & Emery, joined the Firm in June 2006. A graduate of the University of Illinois (B.S., Highest Honors, 1991) and the University of Illinois School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 1994), Mr. Larvick’s practice focuses on the tax structuring of partnership and limited liability companies for private equity and hedge funds. His experience includes the establishment of joint ventures, equity compensation arrangements, family partnerships and investment funds, private equity transactions and real estate acquisition vehicles.

Vedder Price is a business-oriented law firm headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York City and New Jersey. The Firm is comprised of over 225 attorneys, the majority of whom specialize in a broad range of corporate legal services including mergers and acquisitions/private equity, corporate finance, investment services, corporate securities, banking and bank regulatory, asset-based lending, equipment and structured finance, bankruptcy, real estate and taxation.