Jacob Traff
Overview
Jacob Traff is a partner in the European Private Equity Group in the London office of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP. He focuses his practice on all types of corporate transactions for private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies.
Jacob joined Kirkland in 2013 and became a partner in 2017. In 2017/2018, Jacob spent 11 months on secondment in Bain Capital’s European legal team. Legal Week named Jacob to its list of 2021 “Rising Stars: Europe's Best Up-and-Coming Private Equity Lawyers”.
Experience
Representative Matters
Blue Wolf on the acquisition of Synerlab
Apax Partners on various transactions, including the:
- proposed acquisition of Zellis from Bain Capital and subsequent acquisition of Benify from Vitruvian (together with a related minority investment by Vitruvian)
- sale by its portfolio company Healthium of its Clinisupplies business to KKR and subsequent sale of Healthium to another KKR fund
- simultaneous acquisitions of OCS and Finwave from, respectively, Charme Capital Partners and Lutech
- proposed £220 million public-to-private of Kin and Carta plc
- NOK 3.8 billion public-to-private of EcoOnline and subsequent acquisitions of the software division of Alcumus (together with a related minority investment by Inflexion) and Ecometrica
- acquisition of Lutech from One Equity Partners
- acquisition of PIB Group from Carlyle
- $3.4 billion public-to-private (together with Warburg Pincus, CPPIB and OTPP) of Inmarsat and subsequent $7.3 billion combination of Inmarsat with Viasat
Bain Capital Private Equity on various transactions, including the:
- acquisition of Eleda from Altor
- proposed €1.1 billion public-to-private (together with its consortium partners) of Caverion Corporation
- €3.0 billion acquisition (together with BC Partners) of Fedrigoni
- investment in CitiusTech alongside Baring Private Equity Asia
- €1.7 billion acquisition (together with its consortium partners) of ITP Aero from Rolls-Royce
- €2.1 billion public-to-private (together its consortium partners) of Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj (now Ahlstrom)
- equity arrangements in connection with the acquisition (together with NB Renaissance) of Engineering Group
- proposed €3.4 billion public-to-private (together with Carlyle) for OSRAM
- acquisition of Maesa
- acquisition of DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals (now Centrient) from Royal DSM and Sinochem
- sale of its stake in Securitas Direct / Verisure to Hellman & Friedman
- €1.35 billion sale (together with Altor) of EWOS to Cargill
Cinven and Bain Capital Private Equity on the:
- CHF 4.2 billion acquisition of Lonza’s Specialty Ingredients business (now Arxada) and subsequent acquisitions of Troy Corporation and Enviro Tech
- €5.3 billion public-to-private of STADA and subsequent $660 million acquisition of Takeda’s OTC portfolio in Russia and the CIS
Bain Capital Tech Opportunities on:
- its acquisition of finova from Norland Capital and simultaneous acquisition of Iress’s UK mortgage sales and originations software business
- its investment in SumUp as lead investor of a €590 million investment round and its subsequent further investment alongside Sixth Street Growth in a €285 million investment round
Oakley Capital on various transactions, including the:
- reinvestment by Oakley Capital V in Contabo alongside KKR
- acquisition of TechInsights by Oakley Capital IV alongside CVC Growth
- investment in Affinitas Education
- acquisition of ICP Education (now Bright Stars)
- sale of WebPros by Oakley Capital III to CVC and simultaneous $200 million reinvestment by Oakley Capital IV
- acquisition of a majority stake in Globe-Trotter
Vista Equity Partners on various transactions, including the:
- acquisition of Allocate Software from HgCapital, subsequent reinvestment by HgCapital and then sale to RLDatix
- acquisition by its portfolio company Mediaocean of Flashtalking from TA Associates
- £725 million public-to-private of Advanced, subsequent acquisitions by Advanced of Docman, Modern Systems and Kirona and investment by BC Partners
- acquisitions by its portfolio company STATS of Prozone Sports and Perform Group from DAZN to create STATS Perform
- C$4.8 billion public-to-private by its portfolio company Misys of DH Corporation to create Finastra
- acquisition by its portfolio company Granicus of Firmstep
- sale of Sovos Compliance to HgCapital
- equity arrangements in connection with the acquisition of Accelya from Warburg Pincus
ABRY Partners on various transactions, including the:
- investment in Inoapps
- investment in the $350 million capital raise by ERS Insurance
- acquisition of Options Technology from Bregal Sagemount and subsequent acquisition of Fixnetix from DTC Technology Company
- investment in Sermo
GTCR on various transactions, including the:
- acquisition of a majority stake in Worldpay
- €350 million acquisition of TachoSil from Takeda and simultaneous acquisition of Surgical Specialties Corporation from Vivo Capital to create Corza Medical
- acquisition by its portfolio company Resonetics of Medelec
- acquisition of Callcredit from Vitruvian
Prior Experience
SJ Berwin LLP
-
Associate, 2011–2013
- Trainee Solicitor, 2009–2011
More
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2011, Admitted to practice as a Solicitor of England and Wales
Languages
- Swedish
- English
Education
- BPP Business SchoolM.A., Law with Business2011
- BPP Law School, HolbornLegal Practice Course2009
- St. Chad’s College, Durham UniversityLL.B., LawHons.2008