Kyle McHugh

Kyle McHugh is a Partner in the Firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. Based in Chicago, he regularly advises private equity sponsors and public and private company clients in complex transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, take-private transactions, joint ventures, divestitures, private financings, venture capital and other growth-based investments, recapitalizations and restructurings. He also has significant experience in related corporate governance, executive compensation and general corporate matters.

Kyle has represented clients across a variety of industry sectors, including healthcare, manufacturing and real estate. He has been consecutively recognized as one of Best Lawyers’ “Ones to Watch in Americas” between 2026 - 2027 for his work in M&A law and was also named a consecutive “Rising Star” from Super Lawyers between 2021-2023.

Notable experience prior to joining Simpson Thacher includes advising:

• GTCR in multiple transactions, including, together with Apax Partners and AssuredPartners, in the $13.45 billion sale of AssuredPartners to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.; in the $1.6 billion acquisition of ADT’s commercial Fire and Security business segment from ADT; together with Optimal Blue, the $1.8 billion sale of Optimal Blue to Black Knight; in the $1.1 billion take-private acquisition of CommerceHub; and in the strategic minority investment by Carlyle into CAPTRUST, which implied a valuation of CAPTRUST equal to $3.7 billion
• Thomas H. Lee Partners in numerous transactions, including, together with EQT, in the $2.8 billion sale of 40% of AutoStore Systems to SoftBank; $1.4 billion sale of Nextech to TPG; together with Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, the $1.25 billion sale of GCA Services Group to ABM Industries; and the acquisition of AmeriLife Group
• Thompson Street Capital Partners in multiple transactions, including the recapitalization of its portfolio company, Gurobi Optimization, and the related formation of a single-asset continuation fund; and, together with Cequel III, in the strategic investment in DDC Cabinet Technology
• Bain Capital, together with Consolidated Container Co., in the $1.2 billion sale of Consolidated Container Co. to Loews Corp
• Arsenal Capital Partners in the acquisition of the ThermoSafe temperature-assured packaging business from Sonoco Products Company
• Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company in numerous transactions, including the acquisition and subsequent sale of Cranial Technologies; the acquisition and subsequent sale of Midwest Products & Engineering; and together with ClareMedica Health Partners (ClareMedica) in the sale of ClareMedica to Revelstoke Capital Partners

Kyle earned his J.D., cum laude, from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2015 and his B.S. from Indiana University in 2012. He is admitted to practice in Illinois.