Ms. French Shaw is ranked Band 1 for Private Equity: Buyouts in Massachusetts by Chambers USA, where she is described as “a creative problem solver,” "very pragmatic and a good negotiator.” She is “a wonderful lawyer with great perspective and communication skills.” She was recognized among the top 300 women lawyers globally as a leader in Private Equity in the U.S. in IFLR1000’s inaugural edition of its “Women Leaders” publication in 2018. Ms. French Shaw is also ranked as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer for Private Equity in the U.S. by IFLR1000 and recommended for Private Equity Buyouts by Legal 500 US. She was also named among the 2015 “Dealmakers of the Year” by The American Lawyer and 2015 “Top Women of Law” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and was recognized by Expert Guides’ 2014 “Women in Business Law” as an expert in Private Equity. Ms. French Shaw was named a Private Equity “MVP” by Law360 and has been named “Dealmaker of the Week” by The Am Law Daily.

Selected Experience

• Advent International Corporation and its portfolio companies in several transactions, including its:
  • $1.44 billion sale of MORSCO, Inc. to Reece Limited
  • majority investment in First Watch Restaurants, Inc.
  • acquisition of Culligan International Company
  • acquisitions of Michael Angelo's Gourmet Foods Inc. and Rao's Specialty Foods Inc.
  • acquisition of QW Holding Corp. (Quala)
  • acquisition of a majority stake in ATI Physical Therapy Holdings, LLC
  • acquisition of Noosa Yoghurt, LLC and its merger with Sovos Brands (a portfolio company of Advent International)
  • and its portfolio company P2 Energy Solutions Inc. in its acquisition of Merrick Systems, Inc.
  • acquisition of a majority stake in Distribution International, Inc.
  • acquisition of a 13.85% stake in lululemon athletica, inc.
  • acquisition Dudalina S.A. (with Warburg Pincus)
  • $1.1 billion acquisition of a minority interest in Oleoducto Central S.A. (as leader of an investment group)
  • acquisition of International Coffee & Tea, LLC (with CDIB Capital International and Mirae Asset Global Investment Co.)
  • acquisition of a majority stake in Serta Simmons; Serta Simmons Bedding LLC’s merger with Tuft & Needle; and Serta Simmons Bedding LLC’s grant of a new license to, and receipt of a minority stake in, a joint venture with King Koil Shanghai Sleep System Co., Ltd.
  • acquisition of a majority stake in Connolly, Inc. and Connolly Consulting Worldwide, Inc., and in Connolly’s merger with a strategic healthcare auditor
  • acquisition of TransUnion (with Goldman)
  • acquisition of Vantiv and Vantiv’s subsequent IPO
  • going-private acquisition of retailer Charlotte Russe
• Thomas H. Lee Partners and its portfolio companies in several transactions, including its:
  • acquisition of CTI Foods Holdings, LLC (with Broad Street Principal Investments, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs), and in CTI’s acquisition of Liguria Foods, Inc.
  • sale of Michael Foods
  • acquisition and subsequent multi-billion sale of Acosta, Inc. to The Carlyle Group, and in Acosta’s acquisitions of Mosaic and Anderson Dayman Worldwide
• American Capital, Ltd. (n/k/a Ares Capital) in its:
  • sale of American Driveline Systems, Inc. to Transom Capital Group
  • sale of eLynx to Black Knight Financial Services, Inc. (n/k/a Black Knight, Inc.)
  • sale of Pacific Handy Cutter, Inc. to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
  • sale of Dynojet Research, Inc. to Irving Place Capital and New Value Capital
  • sale of Specialty Brands of America, Inc.
  • sale of Aptara, Inc.
  • acquisition of Residential Credit Solutions
• Oaktree Capital Management and its France-based portfolio company Ileos, SA in its joint venture with Visant Corporation


• PWP Growth Equity in its minority investment in Premier Food Concepts, LLC (d/b/a Luna Grill)