Heather Cruz is head of Skadden's New York office and global co-head of the Investment Management Group. Cruz has a diverse practice primarily concentrated on the investment management, financial services and insurance industries. She is actively involved in transactions at the intersection of insurance and asset management, such as complex reinsurance and sidecar transactions. Cruz previously served on Skadden’s Policy Committee, the firm’s top governing body, and is actively engaged in the firm’s hiring committees.
Cruz represents U.S. and non-U.S. investment advisers in connection with the structuring and distribution of private investment products, including credit funds, private equity funds, real estate funds, infrastructure funds and hedge funds. She represents institutional investors seeking to invest in complex private investment funds, continuation funds, separately managed accounts and secondary funds. She also advises clients in M&A transactions involving asset managers and broker-dealers.
In addition, Cruz has extensive experience providing regulatory advice to broker-dealers and investment advisers, including with regard to compliance with the U.S. Investment Advisers Act, the U.S. Investment Company Act, FINRA and the Dodd-Frank Act, with a particular focus on the Volcker Rule.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers | 2027 | Investment Management, Finance, Insurance |
Representative highlights include:
Private Funds
- CapitalG in the formation of CapitalG III, CapitalG IV LP and CapitalG V, each of which is a $2 billion-plus growth-stage venture capital investment fund sponsored by Alphabet
- A leading sovereign wealth fund in connection with a $5.8 billion separately managed account
Asset Management M&A
- BlackRock, Inc. in its:
- $12.5 billion acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners
- $12 billion acquisition of HPS Investment Partners
- acquisition of ElmTree Funds
- Neuberger Berman in connection with the business combination of Dyal Capital Partners and Owl Rock Capital in a $12.5 billion de-SPAC transaction to form Blue Owl Capital
- Rithm Capital Corp. in its:
- $720 million contested acquisition of Sculptor Capital Management, an alternative asset manager with $33 billion in AUM
- acquisition of Crestline Management, L.P., a private credit investment manager with approximately $17 billion in AUM
- Silver Rock Financial, a credit asset manager with over $10 billion in AUM, in Mubadala Capital’s acquisition of a significant minority stake
- Mubadala Investment Company PJSC in its:
- acquisition of Truist Financial Corporation’s remaining stake in Truist Insurance Holdings, LLC by an investor group led by Stone Point Capital and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice at an enterprise value of $15.5 billion
- lead co-investment with Silver Lake in the going-private acquisition of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. at an enterprise value of $25 billion
Insurance
- Principal Financial Group, Inc. in its $25 billion reinsurance transaction with Talcott Resolution to reinsure approximately $16 billion of in-force U.S. retail fixed annuity and $9 billion of in-force universal life insurance with secondary guarantee blocks of business
- Corebridge Financial, Inc. in its pending $22 billion merger with Equitable Holdings, Inc.