Ronan McCann
Biography
Ronan McCann is a London-based partner in Haynes Boone’s Investment Management Practice Group who advises on private fund formation and related investment management structures.
His work includes launching new closed-ended funds, establishing investment management businesses, structuring carried-interest arrangements, developing co-investment opportunities and advising on limited-partner mandates.
He is dual-qualified in England and Wales and Northern Ireland and brings onshore and offshore experience across international and cross-border matters, drawing on his experience from working in the U.K., the Channel Islands and Hong Kong.
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- Advising Kindred Capital in relation to the launch of three institutional funds, which are supported with capital from institutional investors including British Patient Capital, and which are focused on investing in high potential tech companies
- Advising Isomer Capital on: (i) the launch of its first, second and third Luxembourg based VC fund of funds; (ii) the launch of its UK-based investment management company (and related carry structures); and (iii) the formation of a new flexible single-LP fund
- Advising Wilshire Associates in relation to the launch of a Luxembourg based VC fund of funds (which is supported by British Business Investments)
- Advising Octopus Ventures in relation to the launch of a UK-based pre-seed fund investing in a range of technology companies
- Advising 4BIO Capital on the launch of its second and third VC funds which invest in venture capital and public equities in life sciences focusing on gene, cell and RNA-based therapies
- Advising Counteract Partners on the launch of a “dark green” (EU Article 9 SFDR) fund which invests in companies which have the potential to catalyse 500 million tonnes or more of CO2e removal by 2050
- Advising Entrepreneur First (EF) on the launch of four UK funds, aiding EF to scale its investment programme on a global basis with each fund having an investment strategy of making investments in companies which “graduate” from EF’s start-up programme
- Advising Zero Carbon Capital on the launch of a UK fund which invests in companies that focus on building and commercialising technologies that will accelerate the global net-zero transition
- Advising Semantic Ventures, on the launch of a number of funds and co-investment structures, which are domiciled in the UK and Guernsey, and which invest in digital assets
- Advising numerous institutional investors, family offices and corporates on investments into open and closed ended investment funds
Some of these representations were handled by Ronan prior to his joining Haynes Boone.
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- "Spin-Outs Keep Private Equity Relevant," co-author, Private Equity News, 2016.
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Education
- Graduate Diploma, Professional Legal Studies, Queen's University Belfast, 2012
- LL.B., Law with Politics, Queen's University Belfast, 2010
Admissions
- England and Wales and Northern Ireland
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If I am launching a new closed-ended fund, where do you typically add value?
I help clients with the legal framework around the fund launch itself, including the fund structure, any carried interest schemes and the related arrangements that support the overall structure. That often extends to the investment management business, carried-interest arrangements and co-investment features that sit alongside the fund.
How do you help managers build the platform around a fund, not just the fund vehicle?
My work is not limited to the establishment of the fund entity. I also advise on the creation of investment management businesses, carried interest schemes and related structures that managers need to put in place as they launch and operate a venture capital or private equity fund strategy.
Do you only advise fund managers, or do you also work with investors?
I also advise institutional investors, family offices and corporates on investments into open-ended and closed-ended investment funds. That perspective helps me see fund terms and governance issues from more than one side of the table.
What does your cross-border experience mean in practice for clients?
I am dual-qualified in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and I have worked onshore and offshore in the U.K., the Channel Islands and Hong Kong. That background helps when a fund or investment management structure has cross-border elements or where the fund functionaries are based across different jurisdictions.
Haynes Boone Advises Octopus Ventures on Jersey Deal-by-Deal PCC for Investment in Kraken Platform
January 30, 2026
