John J. Koeppel

Mr. Koeppel is a Partner, serves as the Team Leader of the firm’s Private Equity and Independent Sponsor Practices, and is a member of the firm's Executive Committee. He is one of the top lawyers nationally focused on "direct deals," and has successfully structured, negotiated, and closed over 250 transactions in the past 25+ years, which typically involve mergers and acquisitions, fund / SPV formations, and various private equity / independent sponsor transactions. He also works with clients to review and structure their Qualified Opportunity Zone and Qualified Small Business Stock investments. 

Mr. Koeppel acts as counsel to a number of leading funds, independent sponsors, holding companies, middle market companies, institutional investors, family offices, and high net worth investors focused on buy-out, growth, venture, real estate, intellectual property, energy, debt, fund-of-funds, co-investments, secondaries, and other strategies. He also often acts as US counsel to non-US clients on their US acquisition and private investment transactions. He also serves as a director for several private equity-backed companies. 

As an M&A and private equity attorney, Mr. Koeppel has advised on deals from $5 million to $250 million+ in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, food, distribution, business services, cleantech, and medical/ health care.

He frequently draws on his expertise as a corporate and independent sponsor attorney to serve as a speaker at a number of leading private equity and M&A events and podcasts (including: iGlobal Independent Sponsor Summit, US Emerging Manager Institute, Association for Corporate Growth, Expert Webcast, SBIA: Independent Sponsor Forum, and Family Office Enterprise). Mr. Koeppel and his team take a proactive and practical approach to helping clients make connections and successfully navigate the various legal challenges in any private equity transaction. Prior to joining Lippes, he was a partner in the private equity and investment funds group of an AmLaw 100 firm.