Co-Head of European Sponsor Finance and Alternative Credit and a partner in the Finance Group, Kanesh Balasubramaniam is one of the most prolific and dynamic attorneys in the European market. He represents leading private equity sponsors, alternative asset managers and their portfolio companies in complex leveraged buyout financings, acquisition and growth equity transactions and strategic initiatives and partnerships across multiple jurisdictions and all levels of the capital structure.

A key advisor to many of the industry’s most sophisticated sponsors, Kanesh has extensive experience advising clients on European and U.S. debt, equity and hybrid financings, including transactions involving senior secured credit facilities, high-yield bonds, private placements, preferred equity, holdco financings, warehouse financings, liability management and sports financing transactions. He leads robust, ongoing relationships with his many private equity clients, including Bain Capital, BC Partners, General Atlantic and HgCapital.

Recognized as one of the top lawyers in the United Kingdom, Kanesh was named in The Lawyer’s “Hot 100” list and a “Rising Star of European Finance 2025” by Financial News, which recognizes the most talented individuals under the age of 40 working in finance and professional services. His reputation in acquisition finance has been widely recognized, including in The Legal 500, where he is considered a key lawyer. Additionally, this year, the team that he is co-head for was named “Team of the Year: Finance” by The Lawyer. Kanesh also serves on the board of Pratham UK, one of India’s largest non-profit organizations.

Kanesh’s representative matters include advising:

Bain Capital
- on its acquisition of a controlling stake in Namirial, a leading provider of digital transaction management software solutions, from Italian private equity firm Ambienta
- portfolio company Centrient Holding B.V. on its offering of €300 million 6.750% senior secured notes due 2030 and €300 million senior secured floating rate notes due 2030, as well as its entry into a new €85 million revolving credit facility
- portfolio company Castello (BC) Bidco S.p.A. on the U.S. and English law aspects of Castello’s debut issuance of €550 million senior secured floating rate notes and its entry into a new €100 million revolving credit facility
- on the finance aspects of its acquisition of SO.MA.CI.S, including a €550 million high-yield bonds offering
- on the multi-billion-euro financing for its acquisition of a majority stake in European recruitment specialist House of HR and subsequent €150 million term loan B (TLB) add-on to its existing €1.02 billion TLB financing facility
- and BC Partners on the €3 billion financing for Fedrigoni
- portfolio company Fedrigoni, jointly owned with BC Partners, on its €665 million high-yield bond offering
- as part of a consortium, on the financing for their investment in Italian Serie A football club Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.A
- and its consortium partners on the €2.1 billion proposed public takeover of Ahlstrom-Munksjö Oyj;
- on the €955.3 million public takeover offer for Caverion Corporation;
- portfolio company Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A. on a €650 million high-yield bond offering as well as the issuance and private placement of €100 million of additional debt to certain institutional investors
HgCapital
- on Personal & Informatik’s (P&I) €1.205 billion refinancing of its existing term loan facilities, in connection with Hg’s further investment in, and recapitalization of, P&I, which valued the company at €5.5 billion
- alongside the Access Group and TA Associates on Europe’s largest ever unitranche financing on record
- on the financing aspects of its acquisition of a majority stake in P&I, and P&I’s subsequent €455 million refinancing and dividend recapitalization
- on the £425 million financing of the Hg Genesis 8 portfolio
- on the financing for its majority investment in Visma, a leading provider of business-critical software, in a transaction valuing the business at $12.2 billion
- on its majority investment in Nomadia
- and IRIS Software, with its co-sponsor Leonard Green Partners, on the private credit-led refinancing of its existing senior facilities
General Atlantic
- alongside Bridgepoint and members of French software company Esker SA’s management, on an all-cash, €1.62 billion public tender offer to acquire 100% of the shares of Esker
- on its minority investment in Bridgepoint portfolio company Kyriba
- on its acquisition of a majority stake in Joe & the Juice from Valedo Partners
- and certain of its managed funds, including Atlantic Park, on its recommended offer for Learning Technologies Group plc
KPS Capital Partners
- on its carve-out acquisition of INEOS Composites from INEOS Enterprises Holdings II Ltd for an estimated consideration of €1.7 billion
- on the financing aspects of its €3.5 billion acquisition of Innomotics from Siemens
BC Partners
- portfolio company United Group on its issuance of more than €1.4 billion of senior secured fixed and floating rate notes; and the upsize and maturity extension of United’s existing revolving credit facility
- and Kühne Holding AG and E3X Partners on the financing aspects of Kühne Holding’s acquisition of Aenova Group from BC Partners.
- on the euro financing to acquire a majority stake in Havea, the French leader in natural healthcare with a major presence in the European market, from 3i
- on the sale of IMA Group to BDT & MSD Partners
- on its acquisition of Keesing from Ergon Capital and Mediahuis
- and Davies Group on the strategic acquisition of Asta and the acquisition of Sionic Group from Livingbridge and management
- on the sale of UK-based mental healthcare provider Elysium Healthcare to Ramsay Health Care
- and CPP Investments on the financing for the acquisition of global MedTech platform CeramTec
- on the sale of European pharmaceutical company Pharmathen to Partners Group
- on the acquisition of a significant stake in Valtech
- on the financing aspects of its acquisition of a majority stake in Davies
- and portfolio company United Group on the financing aspects of United’s £1 billion acquisition of Vivacom, and on United’s definitive agreement to acquire Tele2 Croatia
- on its acquisition of a majority stake in United Group, a leading media and communication services provider across Southeast Europe, from KKR
- on its investment in Advanced, a provider of business software solutions
- on the financing aspects of its acquisition of a majority stake in Synthon International Holding, a global market leader in the development of complex generics
- on the financing aspects of its £700 million acquisition of VetPartners from Ares Management and August Equity
Oakley Capital
- and Phenna Group on Phenna Group’s 2025 refinancing
- on the financing aspects of its investment in Steer Automotive Group
- on the financing for investments in Phenna Group and CTS Group in transactions valued at over £1 billion and the subsequent refinancing of its existing term loan B
- and IU Group NV on IU Group’s refinancing
- on the acquisition of a majority stake in TechInsights, alongside CVC Growth
- on its investment in ICP Education, a leading independent group of UK nurseries
Francisco Partners, alongside TA Associates, on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Orisha, a France-based software company
L Catterton
- on its agreement to acquire a majority stake in Birkenstock Group, and Birkenstock Holding plc on the approximately €850 million refinancing of its existing credit facilities
- and the Birkenstock Group on its approximately €850 million post-IPO refinancing of its existing credit facilities
TA Associates
- and Inspired Education on the financing aspects of Inspired Education’s acquisition of ACG’s Schools unit
- and Inspired Education on its €2.14 billion refinancing
- alongside RLDatix and Five Arrows, on the $2 billion private credit-led refinancing of RLDatix’s existing senior facilities
Thomas H. Lee Partners
- and its portfolio company AutoStore on its $12.4 billion IPO on the Oslo Stock Exchange
- on the acquisition of Bynder Univar through a Global ABL Credit Facility
- on the acquisition of AutoStore from EQT
World and Strikwerda Investments on their €1.2 billion syndicated term loan refinancing, including a €1 billion term loan and a new €200 million revolving credit facility
EQT Infrastructure and Covanta on the carve-out of Covanta’s European operations to create a standalone waste-to-energy platform
Investindustrial
- on the financing aspects of its acquisition of Neolith
- and its portfolio company Guala Closures S.p.A. on an issuance of €350 million of senior secured floating-rate notes and upsize of its existing revolving credit facility
Nordic Capital
- on its acquisition of Orchid Orthopedic Solutions from Altor Equity Partners
- on the €7 billion financing in relation to the merger of Lindorff and Intrum Justitia to create the industry-leading provider of credit management services
- on the refinancing of the indebtedness of the Sunrise Medical Group
- on the debt financing of its acquisition of Dental Clinics Nederland, Adent Cliniques Dentaires Groupe SA and DPH Dental Partner Holding GmbH
- on the debt financing of its acquisition of the Alloheim Group
PAI Partners
- and its portfolio company Albéa Beauty Holdings Sarl on the successful amendment, extension and refinancing of Albéa’s existing facilities
- on Leather 2 S.p.A.’s €340 million senior secured floating rate notes offering and entry into a new super senior revolving facility to finance the acquisition of Conceria Pasubio S.p.A.
- and Baring Private Equity Asia on their successful bid to acquire World Freight Company International
- on the debt financing of its €3.3 billion public takeover of Refresco N.V, creating the world’s largest independent bottler
Parthenon Capital on its strategic investment in Titan Wealth Holdings
Partners Group on the financing of its € 4.6 billion acquisition of Techem, a leading global energy service provider for the real estate sector and private homeowners, from Macquarie
Strategic Value Partners and its portfolio company Klöckner Pentaplast on its €1.9 billion refinancing, which included senior secured notes, senior unsecured notes and a term loan with ESG-linked ratchet
The Carlyle Group on the financing for the acquisition of Jagex PAI Partners
Thoma Bravo on the £3.1 billion recommended cash offer for Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity solutions
Transcom Holding AB, a portfolio company of Altor Equity Partners, on the issuance of €65 million of senior secured floating rate notes to certain institutional investors
Vitruvian Partners on the sale of a majority stake in Accountor Software, a leading provider of mission critical business software in Finland and Sweden, to KKR
Dhilmar
- on the financing aspects of its $795 million acquisition of the Éléonore gold mine in Northern Québec from Newmont Corporation
- on its $825 million credit facility with Bangkok Bank
A consortium consisting of Apax, Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan on the $3.4 billion take-private of Inmarsat, a British satellite communications group
Antin Infrastructure Partners on its reinvestment in Eurofiber, including the sale of a minority stake to PGGM
A private equity consortium on the $510 million acquisition of DuPont’s Clean Technologies business
GTCR and Corza Health on the acquisition of TachoSil® Fibrin Sealant Patch from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
CVC Capital on the debt financing of its acquisition of Breitling
PizzaExpress on its successful refinancing, including a £335 million bond offerings and entry into its new super senior revolving credit facility
EG Group on the financing of its acquisition of Woolworths Group’s petrol division in Australia for A$1.725 billion
GVC Holdings PLC on its $5.2 billion public takeover of Ladbrokes Coral, creating one of the largest gaming operators in the world
Astorg Partners on the debt financing of their acquisition of Audiotonix
Burger King France SAS on a bank/bond refinancing
Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Santander and a confidential international bank on the bank/bond financing of Hellman & Friedman and GIC’s acquisition of Allfunds SA
Deutsche Bank, Crédit Agricole, Natixis and Société Générale on the bank/bond financing of Loxam SAS’ public takeover of Lavendon Group PLC
Resolute Holdings I, LP, and its affiliates on their acquisition of a majority interest in CompoSecure, Inc., a leader in metal payment cards, security and authentication solutions