Matthew Leist is a partner in the Finance Group in the Los Angeles office of Paul, Weiss. He advises private equity sponsors, their portfolio companies and corporate clients on a broad range of financing transactions, including acquisition financings, recapitalizations, refinancings, syndicated bank financings, direct lending and other private credit transactions, asset-based lending facilities, investment grade and non-investment grade financings and high-yield offerings.
Leist’s practice covers transactions across the capital structure and financing markets. He regularly advises on financings for sponsor-backed acquisitions, take-private transactions, public company M&A, strategic investments, leveraged recapitalizations, liability management transactions and other complex capital structure matters. His experience spans industries including technology, healthcare, business services, industrials, consumer products, infrastructure and financial services.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2026 | Finance, Private Equity |
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2026 | Finance, Private Equity |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2025 | Finance, Private Equity |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2024 | Finance, Private Equity |
Leist has advised leading private equity sponsors, portfolio companies and corporate clients, including KKR, THL, Diversis, Strategic Value Partners, Stonepeak, Silver Lake, Leonard Green & Partners, Bain Capital, Warburg Pincus, Investindustrial, K1, Bregal Sagemount, General Atlantic, Lone View Capital, MARA Holdings, Sysco and Keurig Dr Pepper.
Leist’s representative matters include advising:
- Leonard Green & Partners in connection with the financing aspects of its acquisition of NEFCO.
- Diversis and its portfolio company Tempo Software in connection with a leveraged recapitalization.
- Warburg Pincus in connection with financings for Everise, NEOGOV and Visma, and its NAV and subscription credit facilities.
- Stonepeak on the financing aspects of its acquisition of a majority controlling interest in Castrol.
- Silver Lake in connection with the financing for A Place for Mom.
- Bregal Sagemount in connection with the financing aspects of its significant growth equity investment in Extra Duty Solutions.
- Lone View Capital in its acquisition of a majority stake in CargoSprint.
- Keurig Dr Pepper in connection with its €15.7 billion / $18.4 billion all-cash acquisition of JDE Peet’s, its planned separation into two independent public companies, two strategic investments totaling $7 billion and its related $2.55 billion and €3 billion senior unsecured notes offerings.
- MARA Holdings in its approximately $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power.
- OmniMax International in its $1.335 billion sale to Gibraltar Industries, Inc., by funds managed by Strategic Value Partners.
- DeepIntent, Inc. in its $637 million sale to Vitruvian Partners.
- Enstar Group Limited in its all-cash $5.1 billion acquisition by investment firm Sixth Street.