Neil Connolly

Neil M. Connolly

Associate
About

Neil M. Connolly is a corporate attorney who focuses his practice on private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate counseling and representation. His experience includes structuring, negotiating and managing private equity buyouts, strategic merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, joint ventures, divestitures and recapitalizations. He handles transactions in a wide variety of industries, including food and beverage, agriculture, logistics, education, manufacturing, automation, healthcare and software. 

Areas of FocusPrivate Equity
Bar admissionsIllinois

EXPERIENCE

Representative Buy-Side Matters 
  • Represented Benford Capital Partners in its acquisition of Turri’s Italian Foods and the platform’s subsequent acquisition of Joseph’s Gourmet Pasta, a portfolio company of LaSalle Capital
  • Represented Benford Capital Partners in its acquisition of BSC Industries, a value-added distributor of industrial automation & motion control products
  • Represented Benford Capital Partners in its acquisition of Animix, a niche-market leading B2B ingredients company serving the animal feed industry
  • Represented Benford Capital Partners in its acquisition of RM Young Company, a leading manufacturer of precision meteorological instrumentation
  • Represented Brothers International Food, a portfolio company of Benford Capital Partners, in its acquisition of Hosh International, a supplier of fruit and vegetable juice concentrates and purees to global CPG companies
  • Represented Orion Services Group, a portfolio company of Alpine Investors, in its acquisitions of CS Hudson, Agentis Plumbing and Griffen Plumbing and Heating
  • Represented Fortune International, a portfolio company of Investcorp, in its acquisitions of Meat Processors, Ocean Harvest and Boston Sword & Tuna
  • Represented Socotec, a portfolio company of Cobepa and Clayton Dubilier & Rice, in its acquisition of SLS Consulting, a consulting firm providing building code compliance, fire protection engineering, and accessibility solutions in new and existing buildings
  • Represented Shore Capital Partners in its acquisition of Reliant Health Partners, a leader in the medical claims repricing industry
  • Represented Shore Capital Partners in its acquisition of a multi-location medical spa
  • Represented Together Women’s Health, a managed service organization and a portfolio company of Shore Capital Partners, in connection with several affiliations with OB/GYN practices
  • Represented Ondex Automation, a portfolio company of Shore Capital Partners, in its acquisition of Automation & Control, NeoMatrix and Vision and Control Systems
Representative Sell-Side Matters 
  • Represented Benford Capital Partners in its sale of Farmer’s Hen House to Pete and Gerry’s Organics, LLC, a portfolio company of Butterfly Equity
  • Represented Prospect Partners in its sale of All Glass & Windows, LLC, to Cross Rapids Capital
  • Represented Benford Capital Partners in its sale of Alpha Safety Holdings, to Cadre Holdings, Inc
  • Represented the selling shareholders of Peoria Disposal Company, a solid waste management and recycling business, in their sale to GFL Environmental
 

Awards

  • Ones to Watch, Chicago, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Best Lawyers in America, (2026)

Pro Bono

  • Counsels non-profits through entity formation and applications for 501(c)(3) exemption status.
  • Investigates claims of torture and coerced confessions on behalf of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission.
Education
  • J.D., University of Iowa
    with distinction
  • B.S., Bradley University
    summa cum laude