Kirk A. Radke
Professional Profile
Kirk Radke is a corporate partner in Kirkland & Ellis' New York office where he is a member of the private equity practice. Kirk has more than 25 years experience in various types of corporate and private equity transactions. A business adviser to companies, he has counseled domestic and international clients in private and public offerings of debt and equity securities, credit facilities, venture capital and private equity investments, fund formation, acquisitions and divestitures and other complex transactions. Kirk also has extensive experience in structuring transactions, negotiating and drafting agreements, and supervising deal teams. He has represented both sellers and buyers.
Kirk has broad experience in representing private equity sponsors and public companies spanning numerous industries, including automotive, consumer products, financial services, leisure, manufacturing, retail, technology and transportation sectors.
Kirk has been repeatedly cited as one of the country's leading private equity practitioners by Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business and Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as well as by other independent research teams. In addition, Kirkland & Ellis' Private Equity practice was recognized as Law Firm of the Year 2011-2012 by U.S. News' Best Law Firms survey.
Kirk received his B.A. from Stanford University in 1980 and his M.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1984. Kirk joined the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis in 1984 and became a partner in 1989.
Representative Matters
Mergers & Acquisitions
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A private equity firm in a $1.5 billion acquisition of a Midwest communication company;
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A private equity firm in a going-private transaction in which the client executed the acquisition of a private company with the new combined entity financed. The estimated $2 billion deal formed a new software company with more than 30,000 customers in the manufacturing, distribution, services and retail sectors;
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A private equity firm in the $780 million carve-out from a leading manufacturer and marketer of consumer products of the leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of automotive aftermarket appearance and performance auto-care products;
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A private equity investment firm in the approximately $1 billion going-private acquisition of a leading North American supplier of general line rigid containers;
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A private equity firm in the $571 million cash acquisition of a provider of personal-finance information to consumers;
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A banking and payments technologies company in the almost $3 billion sale of the company to a leading provider of core processing for financial institutions;
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A private equity investment group in its almost $1.5 billion acquisition of a premier provider of information technology solutions for the health care supply chain;
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A private equity and investment advisory firm in its more than $2 billion acquisition of a leading chemical distributor;
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A credit-oriented alternative asset manager in its more than $1 billion bid for one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of packaged ice in the United States;
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An operator of general acute care hospitals in its almost $7 billion acquisition of a competing hospital operator
Fund Formations
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A private equity and investment advisory firm on the formation of Fund V ($17 billion) and its predecessor funds;
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A private equity and investment advisory firm on its debut and second Asia funds;
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A firm specializing in private equity investments on its debut and second funds;
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A private equity firm on its debut fund;
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A private equity investment firm on its third and all predecessors funds
Spinout of Institutional Private Equity Units
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A private equity firm in its spinout from one of the world's oldest and largest private equity firms;
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A firm specializing in private equity investments in its spinout from the LBO-focused private equity arm of a world-leading financial services company and a leading middle market investor;
- A private equity and investment advisory firm in structuring and negotiating a joint venture between itself and an international financial conglomerate
Memberships & Affiliations
Board Member, Member of Economic Advisory Council, Center for American Progress (Washington D.C.)
Board Member, Third Way (Washington D.C.)
Board Member, Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Atlantic Council (Washington, D.C.)
Member, Patrons of Diplomacy Initiative for the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the Department of State in Washington D.C. (2011 - 2012)
Board Member, Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School (New York)
Board Member, Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Atlantic Council (Washington, D.C.)
Board Member, Hope Mohr Dance Company
Trustee, Merce Cunningham Dance Company (New York)
Board President, Trisha Brown Dance Company (New York)
Trustee, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Second Stage Theatre Company (New York)
Trustee, Liz Gerring Dance Company (New York)
Member, Tate Modern (London) American Acquisitions Committee
Inaugural Member, Clinton Global Initiative (New York) (2005-2011)
Founding Sponsor, Problems of Governance in the Developing World (six year project in affiliation with the Clinton Global Initiative and Boston University's Pardee Center)
Member, DIA Art Foundation, President's Advisory Board (New York)
Affiliate, Stanford University, President's Arts Initiative (Palo Alto, CA)
Member, Finance Committee, New York State Democratic Committee (2004-2006)
Member, Stanford University Hospital Arts Committee
Publications
Editor, "The Private Equity Review," 2012
"Debt is the New Equity: How Private Equity Funds Will Sponsor Buyouts Through Chapter 11," Bankruptcy Structure Insights (Summer 2009).
Seminars
Panelist, Large Cap Private Equity, 19th Annual Harvard Business School Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (February 2013)
Co-Chair, IBA Private Equity Transactions Conference 2012 (November 2012)
Panelist, Warburg Pincus 2012 Private Equity Seminar for Latin America Investors (June 2012)
Panelist, IBA M&A Conference (June 2012)
Panelist, The Leveraged Buyout, 18th Annual Columbia Business School Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference (February 2012)
Co-Chair, IBA Private Equity Transactions Conference 2011 (December 2011)
Guest Speaker, Revisiting Huntsman-Hexion, Vanderbilt University Law School's Law & Business Program (April 2011)
Panelist, The Leveraged Buyout in 2011, 17th Annual Columbia Business School Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference (February 2011)
Moderator, Large Cap Private Equity: A Return to Normalcy? 17th Annual Harvard Business School Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (February 2011)
Speaker, Private Equity Today, 9th Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Conference (June 2010)
Moderator, Legal and Regulatory Considerations and Investing in the New World, 16th annual 2010 Harvard Business School Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference
Panelist, The New Internationalism: Regulatory Practices and Global Private Equity Opportunities, 16th Annual Columbia Business School Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference (January 2010)
Chair & Speaker, Kirkland & Ellis LLP M&A Forum, a seminar series devoted to M&A market developments and changes in the law (on-going)
Founder & Speaker, New York Private Equity Network (NYPEN) Legal Series (on-going)
Speaker, Legal Aspects of Private Equity, The Wharton Private Equity and Venture Capital Club (April 2009)
Moderator, Large Cap, Harvard Business School Venture Capital & Private Equity Club's 15th Annual Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (January 2009)
Keynote Moderator, Interview with George M.C. Fisher, Senior Advisor – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, 15th Annual Columbia Business School Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference (January 2009)
Moderator, Global Sourcing and Deployment of Capital, Eighth Annual Yale School of Management Private Equity Conference (November 2008)
Planning Committee Chair, International leveraged buyouts: a one-day symposium for leading private equity lawyers, Private Equity Subcommittee of the IBA Corporate and M&A Law Committee (November 2008)
Moderator, Legal Session, 2nd Annual Duke Private Equity Symposium (March 2008)
Moderator, Large Cap Private Equity Funds: The Future of Large-Cap Private Equity, Harvard Business School Venture Capital & Private Equity Club's 14th Annual Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (February 2008)
Moderator, International Panel, Seventh Annual Yale School of Management Private Equity Conference (November 2007)
Moderator, US and European Buyouts, Harvard Business School's Venture Capital & Private Equity Club's 13th Annual Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (February 2007)
Speaker, Private Equity Series, Harvard Business School (2006-2007)
Adjunct Professor, Columbia Law School (1998-1999)
