Mike Blankenship Shares Insights on Take-Private Deals in 2025 with Private Equity Hub

Winston & Strawn partner Mike Blankenship spoke with Private Equity Hub to share his insights on take-private deals in private equity this year. In 2025, private equity dealmaking has been slow, affecting the trend of take-private deals, but Mike told PE Hub that while there haven’t been a lot of take-private deals, there is some optimism for the rest of 2025.

“I think as private equity looks for deals with a lot of the dry powder out there, ones that know the public markets and know how to take some of these [companies] private, that’s where you’re going to see a lot more in the take private arena,” he said. "There's a lot of hunger for deals and there's not a lot happening right now and there's not as much activity in private equity as there have been in previous years past."

In March,  there was a significant transaction took place in which Sycamore Partners agreed to acquire Walgreens Boot Alliance in a $23.7 billion take-private expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.  

“For a retail company like Walgreens, they have a lot of real estate for instance,” Mike said. “They can go out with a private buyer and monetize some of those assets, do sell-lease back agreements to fund that particular transaction. They could do a lot more, as a private company in the retail space, likely than in the public space.”

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