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Private Equity

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James J. Masetti
Partner, Silicon Valley
T: +1.650.233.4754
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Pillsbury’s Private Equity team leverages global, market-leading experience drawn from the full spectrum of transaction types and industry sectors to provide a fully integrated offering covering the entire private equity life cycle.

Our team lives where public equity is most active—technology, media/telecommunications, energy and infrastructure, aerospace and defense, health care and life sciences, sports, consumer and retail, and more.

Our private equity practice is bolstered by a strong Bank & Leveraged Finance team and a full suite of complementary practices in areas such as Tax, Employee Benefits, Regulatory, Intellectual Property, Insurance, Environmental, Real Estate, Cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Antitrust & Competition, and Litigation. In addition, our market-leading insurance coverage group has been a pioneer in reps and warranties insurance. We support integration, bolt-on acquisitions, operational initiatives and exit readiness, serving as a long-term strategic partner across your investment lifecycle.

Our team handles company-side and investor-side matters for Growth Equity, M&A and Leveraged Buyouts, as well as full-service capabilities to represent portfolio companies.

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M&A and Leveraged Buyouts

Our team handles M&A and leveraged buyout transactions of any market size, delivering expertise and attentiveness that prioritize mega deals. We’ve led transactions from $5 million add-ons to multibillion dollar take-privates.

We’re experienced in structuring management equity, incentive plans and rollover arrangements that align with private equity value creation strategies.

Growth Equity Investments

Our Private Equity team has well-established growth equity capabilities across all development stages, with deep experience in both control and non-control investments.

We provide insightful counsel to sponsors, portfolio companies and investors on growth-oriented investments on a global scale.

Investment Funds

Pillsbury’s Investment Funds group regularly advises fund sponsors and their investor limited partners on all manner of fund formation matters.

Our lawyers counsel registered and exempt investment advisers, including private equity, venture capital, hedge fund and mutual fund managers, in all aspects of their businesses, including fund structuring, managed accounts, and funds-of-one advisory and sub-advisory arrangements.

Bank & Leveraged Finance

Pillsbury’s perspective on leveraged financing structures is bolstered by our extensive experience representing lenders, private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers, as well as other financial institutions and market participants. Our attorneys advise clients across various industries both in the United States and internationally on a vast array of debt financings, including debt commitments, unitranche and first- and second-lien term loans, revolving credit facilities and other working capital, bridge loans, cryptocurrency loans, mezzanine financings, Holdco financings, fund-level financings, warehouse facilities, securitizations, leasing transactions, recapitalizations and restructurings, special situations, distressed debt and workouts.

Representative Experience

  • Everi in its acquisition and simultaneous combination with the gaming businesses of International Game Technology (IGT) by a newly formed holding company owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management for approximately $6.3 billion on a combined basis.
  • WestJet Airlines in its $3.7 billion sale to Onex.
  • CalPERS in a series of secondary transactions involving the sale of over 100 limited partner interests representing over $10 billion in net asset value, including in the largest secondary sale transaction ever, which was a divestiture of $6 billion in private equity stakes from the fund’s $50 billion private equity portfolio, and in its commitment to $1 billion to put toward the next generation of emerging managers in the private markets.

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Pillsbury’s attorneys have deep experience advising both private equity sponsors and operating companies on a range of market-leading transactions.

  • Sponsor-side
    • The Raine Group in numerous matters, including with respect to its growth equity investments in Foursquare Labs, DraftKings, Propagate Content, Huuuge, Olo and Play Games24x7.
    • Blackstone in its $440 million investment in iCapital Network.
    • MC2 Security Fund, an affiliate of The Chertoff Group, in numerous matters, including with respect to its $205 million acquisition of Trustwave from Singtel, $60 million investment in Virtu and $30 million investment in ThayerMahan.
    • Prima Capital Advisors in its $170 million sale to Blue Owl Capital.
    • HealthQuest Capital in numerous matters, including with respect to its investment in OrganOx’s $142 million funding round, investment in Care Connectors and investment in Cellipont Bioservices.
    • Apollo Global Management in its investment in Daphne Technologies and Vega Investment Technologies.
    • CVC DIF in its acquisition of 18 water and wastewater utilities in Arizona from JW Water and Robson Communities.
    • ACON Investments in numerous matters, including with respect to its acquisition of a controlling stake in True Religion and its sale of RMH Franchise to Apple Sun.
    • Perpetual Capital in numerous matters, including with respect to its sale of POLITICO to Axel Springer, its acquisition of In-Shape Solutions and its acquisition of Novatech.
    • J.F. Lehman & Company in its acquisition of Waste Control Specialists.
    • Ullico Infrastructure Fund in its acquisition of the Arizona business and operations of Triton Utilities, Inc. and in its acquisition of Michigan American Water Company.
    • Brookfield Business Partners L.P. as nuclear regulatory counsel in its $4.6 billion acquisition of Westinghouse Electric Company.
  • Company-side
    • Hoya as a consortium member in connection with Bain Capital’s $17.8 billion acquisition of Toshiba’s Flash Memory Chip Business.
    • Chelsea Football Club in its £4.25 billion sale to a consortium led by Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge, and Clearlake Capital Group.
    • Founders of Digital Edge on the $1 billion establishment of a diversified Asia Pacific data center investment platform and its investment from Stonepeak.
    • Certain key unit holders in connection with Avantus’ $1 billion sale of a majority interest to KKR and EIG.
    • NextEra Energy in its $660 million acquisition of GridLiance from affiliates of Blackstone.
    • Kiteworks in its $456 million growth equity investment from Insight Partners and Sixth Street Growth.
    • Mashura in its $300 million strategic partnership with Warburg Pincus.
    • Dispatch Track in its $144 million growth transaction led by Spectrum Equity.
    • Petvisor in its $100 million strategic investment from Apax Digital, Frontier Growth and PeakSpan Capital.
    • San Francisco Giants in its strategic partnership with Sixth Street.
  • Fund-driven M&A and Select Fund Formation
    • CalPERS in its $2.7 billion sale of limited partner interests in 43 real estate investment partnerships.
    • Large global investment adviser in connection with private equity, venture capital and opportunistic direct investments and co-investments with top-tier sponsors.
    • Asia Alternatives Management LLC in its private equity joint venture with Franklin Templeton, through which the two companies created Franklin Templeton Private Equity (FTPE) to provide investors with bespoke global private equity fund-of-funds solutions.
    • Global alternative asset manager and a global operating company in the creation of a new joint venture asset management business.
    • HarbourVest Partners in connection with numerous co-investments and secondary investment transactions.
    • Multibillion-dollar family office in its investment arrangements with a private equity and venture capital sponsor.
    • Sovereign wealth fund in its investment in the general partner of a global private equity sponsor.
    • CHL Medical Partners regarding formation of four venture capital funds, including one Sharia-compliant fund.
    • New Era Ventures in connection with an investment fund formation matter.
    • Schroders in connection with an investment fund formation matter.

Practice Area Highlights

  • Recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. for Private Equity Buyouts: Middle-Market (Up to $500m) (2022–2025).
  • Recognized by Best Lawyers for Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law (2024–2026).
  • Ranked Top 7 most active law firm in the world for advising companies in all PE stages and Top 8 most active law firm in the world for advising investors in all PE stages by LSEG (2025).

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  • Ranked Top 20 most active law firm in the U.S. for advising companies in PE deals by PitchBook (2025).
  • Ranked Tier 1 for U.S. Middle Market M&A (2022–2025) by The Legal 500 U.S.
  • Ranked Tier 1 for M&A: USA by Best Lawyers (2024–2026).
  • Awarded 2022 Private Equity Deal of the Year by The Deal for our representation of Chelsea Football Club in its sale to a consortium led by Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge, and Clearlake Capital Group.
  • Awarded 2018 Asia-Pacific Private Equity Deal of the Year by IFLR for our representation of Hoya as a consortium member in connection with Bain Capital’s $17.8 billion acquisition of Toshiba’s Flash Memory Chip Business.
  • Frequently among the top 20 most active M&A legal advisors in league tables published by Bloomberg, FactSet, LSEG and others.

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