Jonathan A. Dhanawade

Jonathan A. Dhanawade is a trusted advisor to private equity firms, their portfolio companies and other publicly and privately held companies. He concentrates his practice on structuring, negotiating and executing domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, going-private transactions, carve-out transactions, joint ventures, recapitalizations, corporate restructurings and equity investments (including PIPEs and growth equity investments). Jonathan also provides strategic counsel on a range of general corporate matters, including corporate governance, executive compensation and incentive equity arrangements.

Jonathan regularly assembles and leads diverse, interdisciplinary teams in high-stakes transactions that range in size from several million dollars to several billion dollars and that span an array of industries, including technology and software, business and financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, media and entertainment, aviation and education.

Jonathan is also actively involved in his community. He is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he instructs students on the nuts and bolts of private equity transactions. He also supports entrepreneurs and startup founders in his capacity as a mentor for 1871, mHub and Techstars, and serves as a member of the Chicago board of directors of Susan G. Komen.

Represented

• A leading middle-market private equity firm in its acquisition of a controlling stake in a multinational business that is a global leader in ultrahigh-pressure process solutions
• A leading fire and life safety business in several add-on transactions that expanded its footprint across the Midwest
• H.I.G. Capital in its investment in Ascension Property Services
• Madison Industries in a strategic joint venture
• OpenGate Capital in its acquisition of Player One Amusement Group
• Heartland Business Systems, a portfolio company of Alvarez & Marsal Capital, in its acquisition of Midwest Computech
• Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning, a portfolio company of Cortec Group, in multiple add-on transactions that expanded its footprint across the Midwest
• Fireside Investments in its acquisition of an Illinois-based owner and operator of car washes
• A portfolio company of a middle-market private equity firm in a complex out-of-court restructuring that involved successfully negotiating with multiple lenders and equityholders
• BPOC in its launch of Atlas Clinical Research

• 2025 Illinois Rising Star – Super Lawyers

• Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, JD
  

  Editor-in-Chief, Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business; Teaching Assistant, Negotiations

• University of Delaware, BA
  

  University of Delaware Honors Program; Founder and President, University of Delaware Rotary Club

• Illinois
• New York