Gregory O'Shaughnessy

Practice Areas

Since joining Nixon Peabody at the beginning of his legal career over 25 years ago, Greg O’Shaughnessy has been focused on working with clients on sophisticated middle-market transactions all over the world. Greg and his team are trusted advisors to entrepreneurs and owners of privately held businesses, private equity, venture and family office investors, as well as large strategic buyers, helping their clients negotiate and get deals closed across a wide range of industries.

My team and I are focused on handling sophisticated middle-market transactions for our clients all over the world, including mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, private credit transactions, startups, and venture capital financings. In the private equity area, we represent private equity firms, family offices, and venture capital and growth equity investors in connection with structuring, negotiating, and closing their portfolio company investments, add-on acquisitions, and exits. After one of our private equity clients closes a portfolio company investment, our team typically handles the ongoing legal work for the portfolio company. We also represent large strategics in connection with their middle-market acquisitions and divestitures. Finally, we support leading entrepreneurs, owner operators, and families in building middle-market companies. We partner with these clients to help them grow their businesses and then represent them in connection with an M&A exit or other significant liquidity event, most often with a private equity investor or a strategic buyer on the other side of the table. We have significant experience, and a thoughtful touch, with first-time sellers in particular.

We have had, and continue to have, the good fortune of working with clients across a wide range of industries all over the world, which has allowed our team to take a deep dive in many different areas, including healthcare, consumer products (including retail and e-commerce), food and beverage, industrial products and services (including aerospace and defense), niche manufacturing, all manner of technology transactions, and business services.

Most importantly, my team and I take great pride in creating partnerships with our clients that go far beyond always providing exceptional service and best-in-class legal work (which should be a given). After more than 25 years practicing together in this area, we have built an extensive ecosystem in the middle-market deal community, and we tap into that ecosystem to create value and opportunities for our clients. Whether helping clients source transaction opportunities, identify sources of capital, find executive talent, or build teams of top advisors like investment bankers and accountants, we are committed to understanding our client’s businesses, and then using the full leverage of our firm’s talents, experience, and network to help them accomplish their goals.

After a challenging environment for middle-market dealmaking in 2023, marked by a difficult interest rate environment and many businesses facing an uncertain economic outlook, we are optimistic that 2024 will see the pent up demand in the market begin to be released and that there will be a steady increase in deal volume throughout the year, culminating in a robust deal market in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

Career

Boston College Law School, J.D.

Yale University, B.A.

Professional Memberships

Gregory is currently serving on the Board of Overseers of the Boston Museum of Science. He served as the Chair of The Innovators and as a member of the Board of Trustees of MOS from 2011 – 2013. Greg is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth, and is also active in the alumni associations of Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University.