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According to The Financial Times, Kirkland & Ellis has told its fund formation lawyers they need to rein it in.

After complaints from limited partners on K&E’s conduct during fund terms negotiations—including an LP 'top wishes' survey graphic at an industry event which prominently featured “Fire K&E” in a word cloud—the firm has brought in its global funds team for retraining sessions on their communications style.

In a tighter fundraising environment, the balance of power has shifted toward LPs, and process friction that was once tolerated now risks lost commitments for K&E clients.

Investors are said to have two primary gripes when engaging with the firm on potential commitments:

First, an unwillingness to negotiate even small points in limited partnership agreements.

In some cases, fund managers represented by K&E told investors they were unaware their counsel had refused to engage on those terms. One institutional investor’s in‑house lawyer said their organization declined to commit to two funds after K&E refused to negotiate clauses on gross negligence and international sanctions. That investor later discussed internally whether to avoid commitments entirely in cases where K&E managed negotiations.

Second, the firm's generally abrasive style. Counterparties described terse markups that gave little rationale for rejection of proposed changes, and which frequently repeated a standard refusal, “We respectfully decline.”

In the firm's recent remedial training, lawyers were told to provide rationales for markups and to stop using the stock phrase.

Internally, senior partners at the firm viewed the “Fire K&E” moment as a signal that ILPA was discouraging fund managers from working with them. The firm has since launched an effort to try to mend the relationship.

In October 2024, it invited in‑house counsel from ILPA and two large Texas pensions to a gathering of senior partners in Austin. Then, this summer, the firm hired Greg Durst, a senior managing director from ILPA, as “senior director of global fund partnerships.” At the time, K&E said the hire would “strengthen the firm’s relationships” with limited partners.

At stake is not just a handful of future fund formation mandates, but deeper business considerations related to the firm's market-leading private equity practice. Fund formation has long been a reliable relationship-starter that leads to subsequent higher‑fee work with sponsors.

In response to an FT inquiry this week, K&E issued the following statement: “Our firm values the relationships we have built within the funds industry,” said Kirkland. “We continue to evolve our business, collaborate with our counterparts, and provide strong support for our clients ... as market dynamics shift in the fund formation process.”

• Bain Capital acquired a minority stake in Innocap, a Canadian managed accounts platform provider.

• Medline, a medical supply company backed by Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman, filed for a Nasdaq IPO that could target a $50 billion valuation.

• Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS) agreed to acquire Qorvo (Nasdaq: QRVO), a radio-frequency chip supplier, in a cash-and-stock deal at a valuation of $9.76 billion.

• Novo Nordisk made an unsolicited offer of up to $9 billion, including $6 billion upfront, to acquire obesity biotech Metsera, which the target deemed superior to an earlier offer from Pfizer.

• Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) agreed to acquire Clario, a provider of endpoint data solutions for clinical trials, for $8.875 billion in cash from Astorg, Nordic Capital, Novo Holding, and Cinven.

• Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) agreed to acquire the remaining stake in BlueCove, a London-based systematic fixed income manager with $5.5 billion in assets, after initially taking a minority stake in 2023.

• SAP (NYSE: SAP) is considering a new bid for BlackLine (NASDAQ: BL), an accounting software firm, after its $4.5 billion offer was rejected in June, per Reuters.

• Cinven hired Arma Partners to find a buyer for think-cell, a German presentations software maker, which could fetch up to €3 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Francisco Partners agreed to acquire Jamf (Nasdaq: JAMF), a Minneapolis-based Apple device management and security company, for $2.2 billion.

• Bending Spoons agreed to acquire AOL from Apollo Global Management for $1.5 billion..

• Roark Capital is exploring the sale of Nothing Bundt Cakes, a bakery chain, which could be valued at over $2 billion, and has engaged North Point and Bank of America to manage the process, per Reuters.

• PSG Equity invested in QualityHosting, a German Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider specializing in Microsoft 365 and Azure solutions.

• PSG and Canapi Ventures co-led a $225 million minority investment in SavvyMoney, a provider of financial wellness and growth solutions with existing backing from Spectrum Equity.

• Forward Consumer Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in Justin's, a nut butter brand, from Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL), which will retain a 49% minority stake.

• Level, a Pittsburgh-based portfolio company of Dubin Clark, acquired BAM Strategy, a Montreal-based media strategy agency, from Keystone Capital Management.

• Abry Partners acquired a majority stake in AA Ireland, a roadside assistance and insurance solutions provider.

• MKB Equity Partners invested in IEC Holden Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of precision electric motors and components for electrified transportation and renewable energy infrastructure.

• Woodland Gourmet, backed by Graham Partners, acquired International Spices, a developer of custom seasoning blends.

• Great Hill Partners invested in Ren, an Indianapolis-based provider of donor-advised fund technology and philanthropic solutions.

• Incline Equity Partners invested in Advanced Solutions International, an Alexandria, Virginia-based provider of engagement management software for associations, trade unions, and nonprofits.

• American Securities and Platinum Equity agreed to merge portfolio companies FleetPride and TruckPro to create the nation's largest independent heavy-duty aftermarket distributor and service provider.

• RestorixHealth, backed by Marblegate Asset Management, acquired CūtisCare, a provider of hyperbaric medicine and hospital-based outpatient wound center management services, from Bison Capital Asset Management.

• Sullivan Brothers Family of Companies acquired Cotton Holdings, a Houston-based global leader in restoration, recovery, and infrastructure support services, from Sun Capital Partners.

• Peak Toolworks, a portfolio company of Granite Creek Capital Partners and Canterbury Ventures, acquired Southern Carbide, a provider of industrial tooling and sharpening services.

• Nortera, backed by Fonds de solidarité FTQ and La Caisse, acquired Green Giant and Le Sieur brands, Canadian frozen and canned vegetable brands, from B&G Foods (NYSE: BGS).

• Xceed Foodservice Group, a portfolio company of San Francisco Equity Partners, invested in Stillwater Provisions, a Smithfield, Virginia-based food broker.

• GPT Industries, a portfolio company of Branford Castle Partners, acquired Integrated Rectifier Technologies, a Canadian manufacturer of transformer rectifiers for the cathodic protection industry.

• Milestone Partners acquired Set Forth, a provider of technology and payment processing for consumer debt settlement and specialty finance.

• Hitachi Energy acquired a minority stake in Shermco, a U.S. electrical services company and portfolio company of Blackstone Energy Transition Partners.

• RESA Power, a portfolio company of Kohlberg, acquired Accurate Power Group Limited, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based provider of electrical testing and infrared thermography.

• LegitScript, backed by TJC, acquired Kompliant, a compliance orchestration platform for banks and financial services providers.

• Latticework Capital plans to launch a sale process early next year for Beacon Behavioral Health, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based behavioral health provider, per Axios Pro.

• Epiphany Dermatology, an Austin, Texas-based portfolio company of Leonard Green Partners, acquired Big Sky Dermatology, a Bozeman, Montana-based dermatology practice.

• R.L. James, a Hidden Harbor Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Jacksonville, Florida-based Blanchard Caulking & Coating.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Mercor, an AI startup connecting labs with domain experts to train foundational AI models, raised $350 million in Series C funding, led by Felicis, with participation from Benchmark, General Catalyst, and Robinhood Ventures.

• Fireworks AI, an AI inference cloud, raised $250 million in Series C funding co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Index Ventures, and Evantic, with participation from Sequoia Capital.

• Harvey, a legal AI startup, raised $150 million in new funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.

• Legora, a collaborative AI platform for lawyers, raised $150 million in Series C funding at a $1.8 billion valuation led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from ICONIQ, General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures, Benchmark, and Y Combinator.

• Sublime Security, an email security platform, raised $150 million in Series C funding, led by Georgian, with participation from Avenir, 01A, Index Ventures, IVP, Citi Ventures, and Slow Ventures.

• EnduroSat, a Bulgaria-based satellite manufacturer and constellation-as-a-service provider, raised $104 million in new funding from Riot Ventures, Google Ventures, Lux Capital, European Innovation Council Fund, and Shrug Capital.

• ConductorOne, an AI identity security platform, raised $79 million in Series B funding led by Greycroft, with participation from CrowdStrike Falcon Fund, Accel, Felicis Ventures, Oregon Venture Fund, and Operator Collective.

• SimSpace, a cybersecurity company specializing in realistic cyber ranges, raised $39 million in new funding, co-led by BTG Pactual U.S. Private Credit Investments and Communitas Capital, with participation from L2 Point Management.

• CoreStory, a code modernization platform, raised $32 million in Series A funding co-led by Tribeca Venture Partners, NEA, and SineWave Ventures, with participation from Harrison Metal, Singtel Innov8, Samsung Next, Nimble Partners, and Alumni Ventures.

• Syllo, an AI-powered litigation platform, raised $30 million in growth funding co-led by Venrock and Two Seas Capital.

• Formalize, a compliance software company, raised €30 million in Series B funding co-led by Acton Capital and BlackFin Tech, with participation from West Hill Capital and CIBC Innovation Banking.

• CyberRidge, an Israeli cybersecurity company developing photonic encryption for optical networks, raised $26 million in seed funding co-led by Awz and Arkin Capital, with participation from Redseed VC, Elron Ventures, and the EU Horizon-EIC program.

• Mem0, a memory infrastructure platform for AI agents, raised $24 million in Seed and Series A funding, co-led by Kindred Ventures and Basis Set Ventures, with participation from Peak XV Partners, GitHub Fund, and Y Combinator.

• Reflectiz, a web exposure management platform, raised $22 million in Series B funding led by Fulcrum Equity Partners, with participation from Capri Ventures, YYM Ventures, and AFG Partners.

• Kaizen, a govtech startup modernizing public services, raised $21 million in Series A funding led by NEA, with participation from 776, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, and Carpenter Capital.

• xMEMS Labs, a developer of solid-state silicon speakers and micro-cooling chips, raised $21 million in Series D funding led by Boardman Bay Capital Management, with participation from Cloudview Capital, CDIB-TEN Capital, Harbinger Venture Capital, and SIG Asia Investments.

• i6 Group, a digital fuel management provider for aviation, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Yttrium, with participation from IAG, World Kinect, and Shell Ventures.

• Onfire, an AI-powered revenue intelligence platform, raised $20 million in Seed funding co-led by TLV Partners and Grove Ventures, with participation from IN Venture and Leumi Tech 77.

• BluWave, a platform for private equity services, raised $14 million in strategic growth investment led by Highmount Capital, with participation from HighSage Ventures.

• Ridepanda, an e-bike employee benefit platform, raised $12.6 million in Series A funding, led by Bikeleasing Group, with participation from Blackhorn Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Proeza Ventures, Somersault Ventures, Oyster Ventures, and Courtyard Ventures.

• The Mobile-First Company, a French AI startup building mobile-first software for small teams, raised $12 million in Seed funding, co-led by Base10 Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

• Impala AI, an Israeli enterprise AI infrastructure provider, raised $11 million in Seed funding co-led by Viola Ventures and NFX.

• Spacial, an AI platform automating residential engineering and permitting, raised $10 million in Seed funding led by TLV Partners, with participation from Mango Capital, Re Angels, and HTV.

Fintech

• ZAR, a fintech startup providing dollar-backed stablecoins to users in Pakistan and other developing markets, raised $12.9 million in new funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, VanEck Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst.

• Augment, a pre-IPO marketplace for private stock, raised $12 million in Series A funding, led by Builders VC, with participation from Neo, Golden Section, E1 Ventures, Corp Capital, and OPCO Ventures.

• Uptiq.ai, an AI infrastructure for financial services, raised $12 million in new funding led by Silverton Partners, with participation from Live Oak Venture Partners, Tau Ventures, First Capital, and Green Visor Capital.

• SalarySe, an Indian fintech platform, raised $11.3 million in Series A funding co-led by Flourish Ventures and SIG Venture Capital, with participation from Peak XV Partners and Pravega Ventures.

• Hercle, a stablecoin infrastructure platform for institutional money movement, raised $10 million in equity funding led by F-Prime, with participation from Fulgur Ventures and Exponential Science.

• EPIC, a financial technology company for automotive loan payoff and title release, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by FM Capital, with participation from Automotive Ventures.

Consumer & Media

• Whatnot, a live shopping platform, raised $225 million in Series F funding co-led by DST Global and CapitalG, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Alkeon Capital, Greycroft, Andreessen Horowitz, avra, and BOND.

• Fruitist, a superfruit brand, raised $150 million in new funding led by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

• Recess, a relaxation beverage company, raised $30 million in Series B funding, led by CAVU Consumer Partners, with participation from Rocana, Midnight Ventures, Torch Capital, Doehler Ventures, KAS Venture Partners, and Vanquish.

• Snabbit, an on-demand home-help startup, raised $30 million in Series C funding led by Bertelsmann India Investments, with participation from Lightspeed, Elevation Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners.

Healthcare

• Tubulis, an antibody-drug conjugate biotech, raised €344 million in Series C funding led by Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, with participation from Fidelity, Janus Henderson, and Blackstone.

• Zag Bio, a biotechnology company pioneering thymus-targeted medicines for autoimmune diseases, raised $80 million in Series A funding co-led by Polaris Partners and T1D Fund, with participation from Mission BioCapital, AbbVie Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, KdT Ventures, Regeneron Ventures, Boxer Capital, and Pear VC.

• Curve Biosciences, a chronic disease blood-testing and monitoring company, raised $40 million in Series A funding, led by Luma Group, with participation from First Spark Ventures, Techas Capital, Civilization Ventures, LifeX Ventures, Incite, Mintaka VC, and NZVC.

• Indomo, a company developing an at-home injectable acne treatment, raised $25 million in new funding from Atomic, Foresite Capital, and Polaris Partners.

• Sparrow BioAcoustics, a healthtech startup developing smartphone-based cardiac AI, raised $10 million in seed funding, co-led by Killick Capital and Klister Credit, with participation from Pelorus VC and Brinex Capital.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Uluu, a Perth, Australia-based seaweed startup making plastic alternatives, raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Burda Principal Investments, with participation from Main Sequence, Startmate, Fairground, and Trinity Ventures.

• Hollyport Capital raised $4.5 billion for its ninth secondaries fund.

• GHO Capital raised over €2.5 billion for its fourth healthcare-focused buyout fund.

• Sequoia Capital raised $950 million across a $750 million early-stage fund and a $200 million seed fund to back early founders.

• Insignia Capital Group raised over $500 million for its third fund focused on tech-enabled business services and consumable products.

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