Mehdi Khodadad

MEHDI KHODADAD serves as global co-leader of the firm’s M&A and Private Equity group and is a member of Sidley’s Executive Committee. His practice focuses on representing leading technology and life sciences companies and their private equity and other investment sponsors. He counsels corporate clients, entrepreneurs, and investors on a wide variety of transactions, including private and public financings, corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs and related private equity transactions, cross-border, and other structured corporate transactions. Mehdi also regularly advises the boards of directors, management, and special committees of corporate clients and their investors on a wide variety of securities law and corporate governance matters.

He has been recognized by Chambers USA for California Private Equity: Buyouts (2021–2025), named to Forbes’ 2025 “America’s Top M&A Lawyer” list, and is a two-time recipient of Law360’s Private Equity “MVP of the Year” award (2022, 2024). Mehdi has been recognized by The American Lawyer as a “Dealmaker of the Year” in both 2023 and 2015 for his representation of clients in some of the most ground-breaking and innovative transactions of their time. Mehdi led the Sidley teams that received the IFLR Europe Awards’ “Private Equity Deal of the Year” in 2023 and The Deal’s “Private Equity Deal of the Year” award for 2022 and 2020. Mehdi has been included on the “Leaders of Influence: Private Equity Investors & Advisors” list for 2020–2025, published by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and was named to their 2020 “Thriving In Their 40’s” list, honoring leading business professionals. In 2015, Mehdi was named one of the Daily Journal’s “Top 20 Lawyers Under 40.”

Mehdi earned a J.D. from the Santa Clara University School of Law, where he was awarded the High Tech Law Certificate in intellectual property law, and served as the editor-in-chief of the Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal. He received a B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

• Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. in a number of significant transactions, including its:
  • US$7.7 billion take-private acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc.
  • majority growth investment in ModMed.
  • strategic investment in Aptean.
  • US$4.4 billion take-private acquisition of Alteryx, Inc.
  • acquisition of Chelsea Football Club and related affiliates. 
  • US$5.2 billion take-private acquisition of Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc.
  • US$3.0 billion take-private acquisition of Endurance International Group Holdings, Inc.
  • US$1.26 billion combination and sale of Syncsort and Vision Solutions to Centerbridge Partners, L.P.
  • sale of Brightly Software, Inc. to Siemens AG for up to US$1.875 billion.
  • acquisition of Kofax in partnership with TA Associates from Thoma Bravo.
  • strategic equity investment in Dodge Construction Network in equal partnership with Symphony Technology Group.
  • acquisition of Discovery Education, Inc. from Francisco Partners.
  • acquisition of Quest Software from Francisco Partners.
  • acquisition of Confluence Technologies, Inc. from TA Associates Management, LP.
  • strategic equity investment in RSA Security LLC in equal partnership with Symphony Technology Group.
  • acquisition of Precisely in partnership with TA Associates Management, LP.
  • acquisition of InvestCloud, Inc. in equal partnership with Motive Partners and concurrent combination with existing Motive portfolio companies, Finantix and Tegra118.
  • carve-out acquisition of nThrive’s Technology Division from a portfolio company of Pamplona Capital Management.
  • sale of American Construction Source to US LBM, backed by Bain Capital Private Equity.
  • acquisition of Zywave, Inc. from Aurora Capital Partners.
  • acquisition of LANDesk from Thoma Bravo, LP and combination with Heat Software.
  • strategic co-invest transactions in BeyondTrust, Appriss, Lytx, EagleView Technologies, and Diligent Corporation, and launch of Vive Collective,™ a platform focused on backing innovative digital health companies.
• Chelsea FC Women in an investment by Seven Seven Six.
• Precisely in its acquisition of DTS Software.
• Francisco Partners and Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. in their US$2.1 billion acquisition of Software Integrity Group from Synopsys, Inc.
• Victory Live in its acquisitions of Logitix and Ticket Evolution.
• Carveout sale of Archer Technologies to Cinven Limited.
• Discovery Education in its acquisition of DreamBox Learning, a portfolio company of Elliott Management and TPG’s The Rise Fund.
• BetaNXT in its acquisition of Mediant Communications.
• Newfold Digital in its acquisition of MarkMonitor.
• Kofax in its acquisition of Ephesoft Inc.
• Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. and Motive Partners in their acquisition of BETA+ assets from the London Stock Exchange Group.
• RSA Conference Parent (RSAC) in its spinoff from RSA Security, and Crosspoint Capital Partners’ acquisition of a significant interest in RSAC.
• Cornerstone OnDemand in its acquisition of EdCast, and SumTotal from Skillsoft.
• ConvergeOne in its US$1.8 billion take-private sale to affiliates of CVC Capital Partners and acquisitions of Altivon and AAA Network Solutions.
• nThrive, Inc. in its US$1.74 billion acquisition of TransUnion Healthcare from TransUnion.
• Provation in its acquisitions of ePreop, MD-Reports, and iProcedures, LLC, and its sale to Fortive Corporation for US$1.425 billion.
• DigiCert, Inc. in a number of transactions, including:
  • a strategic investment by Crosspoint Capital Partners, L.P. and in its acquisition of DNS Made Easy.
  • in its acquisition of Vercara.
• Constant Contact, Inc. in its take-private acquisition of SharpSpring, Inc.
• Zywave, Inc., in multiple acquisitions, including its acquisitions of Insurance Technologies Corporation, a portfolio company of Accel-KKR, ClarionDoor, Enquiron, Advisen Services Limited, and Strategic Insurance Software.
• Symplr in multiple acquisitions and strategic transactions, including the acquisitions of GreenLight Medical, Inc., Halo Health, Midas Health Analytics Solutions from Conduent Incorporated, SpinFusion, HealthcareSource from Francisco Partners, TractManager from Arsenal Capital Partners, ComplyTrack from the Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory division, API Healthcare from Veritas Capital, and in its strategic co-investment by Charlesbank Capital Partners.
• Dude Solutions Inc. in multiple acquisitions, including the carve-out acquisition of Confirm® from Precisely, and the add-on acquisition of Assetic Pty. Ltd.
• Ivanti, Inc. in multiple acquisitions and strategic transactions, including its take-private acquisition of MobileIron Inc. and acquisitions of Cherwell Software and Pulse Secure, and its strategic co-investments by TA Associates and Charlesbank Capital Partners.
• Confluence Technologies, Inc. in its acquisition of Compliance Solutions Strategies and its acquisition of Investment Metrics.
• Proven Brands in its sale for approximately US$259 million to Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
• NetDocuments in its strategic transaction with Warburg Pincus.
• Revionics, Inc. in its sale to Aptos, a portfolio company of the Merchant Banking Division of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and its affiliates.
• Perforce Software Inc. in its acquisitions of Delphix, Methodics, Perfecto Mobile, Rogue Wave Software, BlazeMeter, and Puppet.
• JetSmarter in its sale to Vista Global Holding Ltd.
• Over 500 portfolio company investments in the life sciences and technology sectors for venture/growth equity clients, including HBM Healthcare Investments, venBio Partners, and RA Capital Management.
• ConvergeOne in its US$1.2 billion reverse merger IPO with Forum Merger Corporation.
• Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its reverse merger IPO with Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• AmQuip Holdings Corp. in its sale to Apollo Global Management, Inc.

Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.

• Member, American Bar Association