Private Equity & Venture

Each facet of private equity — be it fundraising, portfolio management or exits — has its own specialized considerations. For this reason, we have team members focusing predominantly on specific phases of the private equity investment cycle. This focus enables us to apply our resources consistently and cost-effectively while keeping our client’s goals squarely in sight.

We help clients strike the right balance between managing risk and getting the deal done, with an eye toward maximizing the value measures our clients care about most: money, time and risk mitigation. Our comprehensive approach and deep industry and business perspective strengthen the services we bring to private equity, which include:

Providing value-added governance and outside general counsel services to portfolio companies is another way we support our private equity clients. Whether it’s resolving employment and compensation issues, establishing governance best practices between private equity sponsors and their portfolio company boards, or laying the groundwork to maximize the value of the investment, we offer the same high-level insight and attentiveness.

Our Midwestern cost structure and values make us an attractive choice for clients looking to manage expenses and maximize returns — all while working with attorneys who have the local market knowledge to help them identify multiple paths to value creation.

Our private equity team also works with founders and entrepreneurs in connection with selling their businesses to private equity firms. Company owners who are considering a sale find our depth of private equity experience valuable in making strategic decisions and navigating the process. We help ensure that their legal compliance and risk management track records are assets during the sales process.

While our attorneys have handled billion-dollar deals in specialized industries like oil and gas and automotive, our focus is assisting clients in the lower-middle and middle markets. We’ve emerged as a go-to firm for clients operating in this space because of our ability to bring top-market terms and methods to middle-market deals. And, with offices throughout the middle of the U.S., we are well-positioned to help private equity funds target, vet and acquire businesses within and outside our footprint.

Our private equity team is more than 50-strong, including several attorneys who, in addition to subject-area knowledge, bring a wealth of industry-specific experience in the automotive, tech, health care, manufacturing, oil and gas, logistics and franchising sectors. This background gives clients an uncommon advantage in understanding how the deal and regulatory framework varies by market. We have the resources to conduct quick-turnaround due-diligence and operational risk assessments in order to help clients evaluate industry-specific risks and make informed investment decisions.

Our proficiency in the middle market, combined with our nuanced understanding of private equity, enable us to efficiently help our private equity clients achieve their deal sourcing, planning and post-acquisition goals. While our primary goal is to usher each deal from start to finish line, we recognize that some deals inevitably wash out, and so we approach “broken deals” in creative ways that underscore our commitment to forging productive, long-term relationships with our private equity clients.