Michael A. Civale has more than 25 years of experience advising private equity sponsors, public companies, founders, family-controlled enterprises, boards of directors and strategic investors on complex, high-stakes transactions and special situations.
Civale’s practice includes counseling on negotiated and contested M&A, take-private transactions, consortium transactions, minority and strategic investments, carve-outs, restructurings, spin-offs, governance-sensitive matters and other transformational transactions. These matters often involve significant execution complexity and a deep understanding of stakeholder considerations and cross-border dynamics, and Civale has substantial experience working across Latin America, including in Brazil.
Civale has represented clients in many of the market’s most prominent sponsor-backed and strategic transactions, including contested acquisitions, consortium-led investments, cross-border transactions, complex restructurings and multibillion-dollar take-private transactions. He also frequently advises management teams, founders and family-controlled enterprises on strategic transactions, governance matters, ownership transitions and other sensitive corporate situations. Clients regularly turn to Civale for his commercial judgment, practical approach and ability to navigate highly negotiated transactions involving complex governance, financing, founder, family control and stakeholder dynamics.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers | 2027 | Private Equity, M&A |
Civale’s experience includes representing:
Public Company and Strategic Transactions
- Mubadala Investment Company PJSC, as one of the lead co-investors with Silver Lake, in the $25 billion acquisition of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., one of the largest take-private transactions in recent years and the largest-ever take-private transaction in the media and entertainment sector
- Danaher Corporation in its $13.8 billion acquisition of Pall Corporation
- GX Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in its $1.25 billion initial business combination with Celularity Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company
- Pfizer in the $2.375 billion sale of its Capsugel drug-delivery business to KKR
Private Equity, Sponsor and Founder Transactions
- Burger King Holdings, Inc. in its $4 billion going-private acquisition by 3G Capital Partners
- the Miami Marlins, as longtime outside counsel, in matters across the franchise’s business, including its stadium naming rights transaction with loanDepot, jersey patch transaction with ADT, media rights agreement (and related media rights joint venture) with Bally Sports, real estate development (and related real estate joint venture) with Cordish Companies and numerous financing and investment transactions, as well as corporate governance and strategic advice on labor, personnel and other strategic matters
- the management team of Pattern Energy Group Inc., led by CEO Michael Garland, in the $6.1 billion take-private of Pattern by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the concurrent combination with Pattern Development
- James Perse, the owner of the eponymous global luxury clothing and lifestyle brand, in the formation of a partnership with mid-market private equity firm Oakley Capital
- DLJ Merchant Banking Partners in its proposal to reorganize and acquire Trump Hotels & Casino
Latin America, Brazil and Cross-Border Transactions
- Banco BTG Pactual S.A., Brazil’s largest independent investment bank, as outside counsel for nearly two decades, supporting all aspects of its business and in many significant transactions, including:
- its $2.5 billion acquisition of the investment bank Banco UBS Pactual from UBS AG
- several other acquisitions and dispositions, including the purchase of Celfin Capital in Chile to create the largest independent investment bank in Latin America; the purchase of Bolsa y Renta S.A., the largest stockbroker in Colombia; the $1.7 billion purchase of BSI S.A., a Swiss-based private banking group with approximately $100 billion of assets under management that was owned by Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., and the sale of BSI S.A. to EFG International AG; the $1.6 billion spin-off of a portion of its commodities trading unit; and the purchase of Ariel Reinsurance, a property and casualty reinsurance company, and the subsequent sale of ArielRe to Argo Group
- Braskem S.A., Brazil’s largest petrochemical company, in its $323 million acquisition of Dow Chemical’s global polypropylene business
- Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners, a global commodities trading business affiliated with Banco BTG Pactual, in its acquisition of Trailstone, a global energy and technology company, from Riverstone