Justin A. Macke

JUSTIN MACKE counsels private equity firms and their portfolio companies, founder-led private companies, and public companies and their boards of directors in a wide variety of transactions, including leveraged buyouts, take-private transactions, add-on acquisitions, minority investments, carve-out transactions, distressed M&A, restructurings and 363 sales, public-to-public mergers, and cross-border M&A. He advises companies across many industry verticals, with particular focus on industrials, aerospace and defense, energy and infrastructure, healthcare, technology, and consumer.

Justin has particular depth in sell-side transactions. He represents founder-led companies in sales and in majority and growth investments from sponsors, private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in exits, corporate sellers in carve-out divestitures, public company sales, and distressed asset sales. 

Justin advises private equity sponsors across the buyout lifecycle, from platform acquisitions and add-ons to take-privates and exits. His sponsor work regularly includes structuring rollover equity for founders and management sellers, sponsoring co-investments alongside limited partners and other investors, and overseeing representation and warranty insurance (RWI) in both buy-side and sell-side deals. 

Justin graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School, where he served as executive managing editor of the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. He received his B.A. in political science and English from Miami University.

Justin has been honored as a “Top Rising Star” by The Deal (2021), a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers (2017–2025), and named among Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Dealmakers (2027). He also co-authored the USA chapters of the 2025 and 2026 editions of Chambers Global Practice Guide for Private Equity.

Justin serves on the Board of Trustees of Community-Word Project.

Private Equity Sponsors and Portfolio Companies: Acquisitions and Investments

• American Industrial Partners and its portfolio companies in multiple transactions, including:
  • AIP’s acquisition of Aluminium Duffel.
  • AIP’s acquisition of Aluminium Dunkerque.
  • AIP’s US$1.27 billion all-cash take-private acquisition of Avanos Medical.
  • AIP’s acquisition of Crestview Aerospace.
  • AIP’s investment in GD Energy Products.
  • AIP’s investment in Orizon Aerospace.
  • AIP’s acquisition of RelaDyne.
  • AIP’s acquisition of Vertex Aerospace.
  • AIP’s acquisition of Grain & Protein Technologies.
  • Grain & Protein Technologies acquisition of Munters’ FoodTech Equipment business.
  • RelaDyne’s acquisition of Grupo Lucalza.
  • RelaDyne’s acquisition of Sun Coast Resources.
  • Vertex Aerospace’s acquisition of Raytheon Technologies’ Defense Training and Mission Critical Solutions Business Lines.
  • Stock-for-stock merger of Vertex Aerospace and Vectrus, Inc.
• Shield AI in the acquisition of software simulation company Aechelon Technology Inc., a Sagewind Capital portfolio company.
• Ancala, an independent infrastructure manager, in its acquisition of a portfolio of pipeline-connected sites and storage facilities for the production, storage, and transportation of critical chemical intermediates from Hexion, an American Securities portfolio company.
• Compactor Rentals of America, LLC in its acquisition of Pak-Rite Rentals, LLC.

Public Company and Strategic M&A, Including Sell-Side

• Strategic partnership between Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLGN) and American Industrial Partners in a US$7.3 billion transaction to acquire Trivium Packaging B.V. and to combine Silgan’s metal operations with Trivium.
• Hiab Corporation, a leading provider of smart and sustainable on-road load-handling solutions, in its US$1.035 billion all-cash acquisition of Labrie Environmental Group from Wynnchurch Capital, L.P.
• Ebix, Inc., a global software and technology company, and certain of its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, through a successful asset sale and sponsored plan of reorganization.
• ACI Worldwide in its acquisition of Western Union’s Speedpay Business; in its divestiture of its corporate online banking solutions to One Equity Partners; and its real-time payments partnership with Mastercard.
• Altabancorp in its stock-for-stock merger with Glacier Bancorp.
• Associated Estates in its US$2.5 billion sale to Brookfield Asset Management.
• Cintas in its US$2.2 billion acquisition of G&K Services.
• Exelis in its US$4.8 billion sale to Harris Corporation.
• Lord Corporation in its US$3.7 billion sale to Parker-Hannifin.
• OM Group in its US$1.03 billion sale to Apollo Global and Platform Specialty Chemicals.
• Sherwin-Williams in its US$11.3 billion acquisition of Valspar.

Sponsor Exits and Sell-Side Transactions

• Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, an infrastructure investor, in the sponsor exit of its portfolio company, WTG Midstream Holdings LLC, the largest private Permian gas gathering and processing business with assets located in the core of the Midland Basin, in its US$3.25 billion sale to Energy Transfer LP.
• American Industrial Partners in the sale of Carlstar to Titan International.
• Optimas OE Solutions Holding, LLC in the carve-out sale of its international business to European private equity firm Exponent.
• Garage Beer, the fastest growing, independent beer brand in the U.S., in its strategic growth investment from Durational Capital Management.
• VIO Med Spa in its majority investment from Freeman Spogli.

Shareholder Activism and Corporate Defense

Publicly disclosed proxy contests and activism defense representations include: Associated Estates, Cleveland-Cliffs, Louisiana Pacific, Marathon Petroleum, OM Group, Northern Oil & Gas, TriMas Corporation, and Verint Systems.

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