Forum on US Private Equity M&A

Rita O’Neill is a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Los Angeles office and serves as co-head of the Firm’s Global Private Equity Group. She has a broad-based practice that includes advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and securities offerings, and providing general corporate advice on disclosure and governance. She has advised clients in a wide range of industries, including consumer and retail, financial institutions, healthcare and life sciences, industrials, telecommunications and transportation.

Mr. Waxman is a Partner within the Ares Private Equity Group. Mr. Waxman works on both the acquisition and disposition of ACOF portfolio assets and assists portfolio companies in dealing with significant legal issues. Prior to joining Ares in 2016, he was a Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, where he practiced for more than 30 years. Mr. Waxman holds a B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles in Economics and a J.D. from The University of California Davis School of Law.

Paul Dali is a Managing Director and Group General Counsel, M&A and Investments at EQT. Paul joined EQT in 2013 and is based at the Stockholm office. Prior to joining EQT, Paul worked as an M&A lawyer at law firms Vinge and Linklaters, in Stockholm, Sweden.   Paul holds an LLM (Master of Laws) from the University of Stockholm, Sweden.

Louise Dumican is a Partner, Managing Director and Head of Legal (Investments) for the Americas. She is based in New York. Ms. Dumican’s practice focuses on international and domestic corporate M&A, and she has assisted deal teams across the entire Carlyle network, across all sectors and geographies. In 2018 she moved from London, where she provided dedicated assistance to the European investment teams, to New York, where she currently leads a team of lawyers assisting on U.S. and South American deals. In 2016, Ms. Dumican was awarded the Financial News “Top 40 under 40” in Private Equity Award and was named a “Rising Star” of private equity. Since then, she has helped the team pick up numerous prestigious awards, including In-House Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards (in connection with which she was named to the GC Powerlist 2018), and two Financial Times awards for Innovative In-House Team of the Year 2018. Prior to joining Carlyle, Ms. Dumican was an associate in the private equity M&A team at Clifford Chance LLP in London. Ms. Dumican received her law degree from Oxford University (Oriel College) and attended BPP Law School. Louise was admitted as a solicitor to the Law Society of England & Wales.

A partner in the Corporate Department, Neil Goldman is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group and the Private Equity Group. Neil has extensive experience with public and private company transactions, including private equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructuring transactions and joint ventures. Neil is recognized as a recommended lawyer by The Legal 500 for his work in private equity buyouts.

Deirdre Harding is the General Counsel of TPG Capital and has been with TPG since 2021. Deirdre previously served as a Managing Director in the legal division of Goldman Sachs and prior to that was a private equity/M&A attorney at Weil Gotshal & Manges.   Deirdre graduated from Wake Forest University and Fordham University School of Law.

Peter is one of the leading members of Kirkland's corporate practice and a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. Focusing on mergers and acquisitions, Peter regularly represents private equity firms and public companies in their most complex transactions with experience spanning the entire range of M&A activity, including many significant leveraged buyouts, minority investments, strategic mergers, joint ventures and cross-border transactions.   Business Insider profiled Peter as one of eight lawyers “likely to lead the private equity legal profession in the years to come.” Peter has also been recognized for his work in Bloomberg, the IFLR1000, The Legal 500 U.S., The Deal, Business Insider, Lawdragon 500, Chambers Global and Chambers USA. In Chambers, clients reported that “he's a brilliant lawyer” with “knowledge, talent and style” and noted “he combines a depth of experience with a keen sense of judgement and a high degree of expertise,” always having “the right answer for any given situation” and bringing “the best of his firm to deals.” Peter was recognized by The Deal as a “Private Equity Dealmaker of the Year” on its short list for 2019. Law360 named Peter “MVP in Private Equity” in 2017. In 2012, he was named by the M&A Advisor as a winner of its annual “40 Under 40 M&A Advisor Recognition Awards.” Peter is the co-author of the often cited article, “The Four Ring Circus – A Further Updated View of the Mating Dance among Announced Merger Partners and an Unsolicited Second or Third Bidder.”