Jeff Mattson

Jeff represents private companies, family offices, private equity funds, and public companies in mergers and acquisitions, with a focus on first-time sellers in transactions with purchase prices ranging from $20 – $500 million.

During his career, Jeff has closed more than 350 M&A transactions. Approximately 50 of such M&A transactions have been Section 363 sales under the Bankruptcy Code, assignments for the benefit of creditors, or other distressed transactions. He also advises companies on private placements, start-ups, equity compensation and governance. He serves clients in a broad range of industries, including logistics, retail, food and beverage, technology, chemicals, transportation, healthcare, distribution, manufacturing, and service businesses.

• Sale of a software business to a private equity firm.
• Sale of a Tier 1 automotive supplier to an investment firm.
• Sale of a 35-year-old staffing firm by its founder to one of its competitors.
• Sale of a freight forwarder and customs broker to a competitor.
• Sale of an Illinois-based logistics and warehousing business to a national competitor.
• Sale of a national logistics brokerage business, with a European call center, to a private equity firm.
• Sale of an Indiana-based insurance broker to a nationwide brokerage firm.
• Sale of a commercial janitorial service to a private equity firm.
• Sale of a college admissions platform to a private equity firm.
• Sale of a software application development business, based in India and the U.S., to a U.S. competitor.
• Sale of a distributor of specialized tools to a public company with a competing business (seven years after representing the ownership group in its acquisition of this distribution business).
• Sale of a health care data analytics company to a public company competitor.
• Sale of a leading manufacturer of nurse call stations to a diversified public company.
• Represented a manufacturer and distributor of aircraft parts in the acquisition of a legacy aircraft parts business from an aircraft engine manufacturer.
• Represented a family office in the sale of its successful start-up in the Illinois gaming industry.
• Represented a London-headquartered public company in a combined stock and asset purchase of four corrugated packaging facilities in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
• Represented an Oregon-based manufacturer of audio and video equipment in a sale to a large family office.
• Served as U.S. counsel for a London-based company in connection with the sale of a division that manufactures and distributes aircraft equipment in the U.S. and in Europe.
• Sale of a manufacturer of high-performance automotive parts to a private equity firm.
• Sale of a minority interest in a franchisor of fresh fruit bouquet retail stores to a private equity fund.
• Represented multiple management groups involved in sales of portfolio companies from one private equity firm to another private equity firm, including sales of a leading supplier of mobile storage solutions, a manufacturer of snack products, a manufacturer of coatings for the printing industry and a provider of boiler room products and systems.
• Represented a private equity fund in the sale of a leading provider of vehicle service contracts.
• Represented a national fast-casual restaurant franchise in the sale of a minority interest to a San Francisco-based private equity firm.

• Presenter, “Selling a Middle-Market Business to a Private Equity Fund – Advice from Both Sides of the Table,” Chicago Bar Association’s Business Transactions Committee (March 4, 2021).
• Presenter, “M&A 101: Legal Issues in the Sale of a Business,” National Association of Presort Mailers 2019 Annual Conference (February 2019).
• Co-presenter, “Drafting and Negotiation of Executive Employment Agreements,” Chicago Bar Association (April 2015).
• Presenter, “When to Consider a Private Equity Deal and How to Make It Work,” Webinar (June 2013).
• Presenter, “What’s the Deal? Managing Merger and Acquisition Risk,” Marsh’s Academy of Risk (October 2010).
• Presenter, “Distressed M&A: Trends in 2010,” (February 2010).