James L. Kelly

Partner

Chair, New York Private Equity

Emailjames.kelly@us.dlapiper.com

About

Areas of FocusConsumer Goods, Food and Retail Energy and Natural Resources Healthcare Industrials Infrastructure, Construction and Transport Insurance Life Sciences Media, Sport and Entertainment Technology Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions Private Equity

Bar admissionsNew York

EXPERIENCE

Represented Stellex Capital Management in connection with numerous platform, add-on, investment and exit transactions, including: its acquisition of Fincentric (f/k/a Markit On Demand) from S&P Global; its leveraged acquisition of TriplePoint; its leveraged acquisition of G2 Risk Solutions (f/k/a G2 Web Services, Lundquist Consulting and Fintellix India) from TransUnion and its add-on acquisition by way of take-private transaction of ZignSec; its investment in PLH Group and exit of PLH Group to Primoris Services Corporation; and its leveraged buyout of Peltram Plumbing Holdings, Peltram's numerous plumbing sector rollup acquisitions and Peltram's sale of Precision Plumbing & Service to Comfort Systems
Represented Atlas Holdings in its leveraged acquisition of Foster Farms
Represented The Carlyle Group and its portfolio company iC Consult Group in its acquisitions of ICSynergy, SecureITSource and Kapstone Technologies
Represented Bregal Investments in its leveraged acquisition of Juniper Landscaping and Juniper’s add-on acquisitions of Yohe’s Lawncare and Landscaping, Shooter & Lindsey, Rips Professional Lawn Care, Davis Landscape and Elegant Landscape and Design
Represented Green Courte Partners in the sale of The Parking Spot to KKR
Represented Qatar Sports Investments in the investment by Arctos Partners in Paris Saint-Germain.
Represented Oaktree Capital Management, Assured Investment Management and Stellex Capital Management in the sale of PLH Group to Primoris Services Corporation
Represented Columbus McKinnon Corporation in its leveraged acquisition of Dorner from EQT and its (pending) leveraged acquisition of Kito Crosby from KKR
Represented InfoDesk from inception to its exit to Cuadrilla Capital
Represented Starling Physicians in its sale to VillageMD
Represented The Wicks Group of Companies in connection with numerous platform, add-on and exit transactions, including: its leveraged buyout of Gladson from Lake Pacific Partners, Gladson’s add-on acquisitions of Nutritionix, WebCollage from Answers Corporation, ItemMaster, Edgenet and Shotfarm and its exit of Syndigo (f/k/a Gladson) to The Jordan Company; numerous add-on acquisitions for Invo, including Autism Home Support Services, Xcite Steps, Positive Behavioral Connections, ABA2Day and School Steps and its exit to Golden Gate Capital; its leveraged buyout of Bonded Services from Berggruen Holdings, Bonded Services’ add-on acquisitions of Bilton Arts and Inception Digital Services and its exit to Iron Mountain; its acquisition of Antenna Audio from Discovery Communications; its leveraged buyout of Education Direct from Thomson Corporation and its exit of Penn Foster (f/k/a Education Direct) to The Princeton Group

Education

J.D., Syracuse University College of Law
magna cum laude
Lead Articles Editor, Syracuse Law Review
Order of the Coif

B.A., University of Washington

Awards

Leading Partner, Private Equity Buyouts: Middle-Market (up to $500M), The Legal 500 United States, (2025)
Leading Lawyer, Private Equity Buyouts, The Legal 500 United States
Recognized, New York Corporate M&A, Chambers USA
Buyouts Deal of the Year
Pro Bono Publico Award from The Legal Aid Society