Paul Sheridan, Global Chair of the Private Capital Practice, is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Sheridan has held many leadership roles within the firm, having served multiple terms as a member of the firm's Executive Committee, as Global Chair of the firm's Private Equity Practice, and as Chair of the firm's Income Partner & Counsel Committee. He has significant experience in representing companies and private equity firms in corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private and public offerings, venture capital financings, and general company representation. Mr. Sheridan has particular experience representing private equity firms in connection with leveraged buyouts and other investment transactions, with substantial experience in structuring and negotiating cross-border transactions as well as the acquisition and divestiture of corporate divisions. 

Mr. Sheridan has been ranked as a top Corporate/M&A & Private Equity lawyer by Chambers USA 2011-2022 and recommended for Private Equity: Buyouts Nationwide by Chambers USA 2019. He is consistently recognized in the Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers’ list (2014-current) and recommended for his M&A work by The Legal 500 US (2015-present). In 2012, Law360 honored Mr. Sheridan with the Private Equity MVP award, and in 2009, The National Law Journal included him as one of the 40 rising stars under age 40 in the Washington legal community.

Mr. Sheridan's representative clients include investment firms such as The Carlyle Group (Carlyle), Onex Corporation, the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Radcliff Capital Management, DC Capital Partners, and Revolution, and companies such as Starbucks Corporation, Clark Construction Group, Kastle Systems, Beautycounter, and Allison Transmission.

Prior to entering the practice of law, Mr. Sheridan served as a law clerk to Judge James C. Cacheris, Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Significant representative matters include the representation of:

  • Ginkgo Bioworks in its US$15 billion business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp., a SPAC
  • Transfix in its pending US$1.1 billion merger with G Squared Ascend I, Inc., a SPAC sponsored by affiliates of G Squared
  • Grosvenor Capital Management in its US$2 billion merger with CF Finance Acquisition Corp., a SPAC sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald
  • Clarivate Analytics, a provider of subscription-based content, analytics, professional services, and workflow solutions, in its US$4.2 billion combination with Churchill Capital Corp., a SPAC
  • Capitol Acquisition III, a SPAC, in its US$2.4 billion combination with Cision, Inc.
  • Capitol Acquisition Corp. ll, a SPAC, in its combination with Lindblad Expeditions
  • Carlyle in its US$5.3 billion acquisition of StandardAero, an aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul provider
  • Accudyne Industries in its US$1.45 billion sale of Precision Flow Systems, a provider of fluid management systems, to Ingersoll-Rand plc
  • Avendra in its US$1.35 billion sale to Aramark
  • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its US$2.3 billion sale of Mauser Group
  • Carlyle in the sale of Vogue International to Johnson & Johnson for US$3.3 billion
  • Carlyle in the sale of Landmark Aviation to BBA Aviation for US$2.07 billion
  • Onex in the acquisition of the Save-A-Lot business of SuperValu, a hard-discount grocery retailer, for US$1.3 billion
  • Nesco Holdings in its US$1.48 billion acquisition of Custom Truck One Source and its partnership with Platinum Equity
  • Onex and Baring Private Equity Asia in the acquisition of the intellectual property and science business from Thomson Reuters for US$3.55 billion
  • Onex and CPPIB in the sale of Gates Corporation to Blackstone for US$5.4 billion
  • Carlyle in the sale of its interests in Beats Electronics LLC and Beats Music, which Apple acquired for approximately US$3 billion
  • BC Partners and Carlyle in the acquisition of Hamilton Sundstrand Industrial (renamed Accudyne) from UTC for US$3.46 billion
  • Accudyne in its US$1.2 billion sale of Hitachi of certain assets of Sullair Air Compressor
  • Onex and CPPIB in the acquisition of Tomkins plc, with an enterprise value of US$5 billion
  • Tomkins in the sale of its air distribution business to CPPIB for US$1.1 billion
  • Carlyle and Onex in connection with their US$5.6 billion acquisition of the Allison Transmission business of General Motors
  • Carlyle in the sale of Landmark Aviation and Standard Aero Holdings to Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Ltd. for US$1.9 billion
  • Carlyle in the sale of Vought Aircraft to Triumph Group, at an enterprise valuation of approximately US$1.4 billion
  • Starbucks in the US$384 million sale of its Tazo tea business
  • Starbucks Corporation in connection with its strategic partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (and its Keurig subsidiary)
  • Starbucks Corporation in a two-step tender offer process to acquire remaining 60.5% share of Starbucks Coffee Japan, Ltd. that it had not owned, for aggregate consideration of approximately US$913 million
  • Carlyle in connection with the acquisition of philosophy, Inc., a leading skin care and cosmetics company, and the subsequent sale of the company to Coty, Inc.
  • Carlyle in the acquisition of Primatics Financial, and the later sale of Primatics Financial to SS&C Technologies Holdings for approximately US$122 million
  • Carlyle and Revolution Growth in connection with the acquisition of LDiscovery, and LDiscovery in its subsequent acquisition for approximately US$410 million of Kroll Ontrack
  • Revolution Growth in multiple transactions, including investments in Sweetgreen
  • Affiliates of Mark Ein in the acquisition of management rights of the Citi Open
  • KLDiscovery in its US$800 million combination with Pivotal Acquisition Corp., a SPAC
  • Capitol Investment Corp. V, a SPAC, in its US$3 billion combination with Doma, formerly known as States Title
  • Capital Investment Corp. IV, a SPAC, in its US$1.1 billion acquisition of Nesco Holdings, a leading provider of specialty rental equipment to the electric utility, telecom, and rail end-markets, from Energy Capital Partners    

Bar Qualification

  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia

Education

  • JD, University of Virginia School of Law, 1996
  • BA, Harvard College, 1993