Italy Private Equity: Why US Law Firms Need Milan Rainmakers Before a Milan Office

AIFI/PwC recorded Italian private equity, venture capital and infrastructure investment of €8.162 billion in 2023, €14.903 billion in 2024 and €11.610 billion in 2025. Deal count moved from 750 in 2023 to 732 in 2024 and then 887 in 2025. Fundraising moved from €3.772 billion in 2023 to €6.673 billion in 2024 and €3.570 billion in 2025. That is not straight-line growth. It is better read as a market with large-deal volatility, continuing international interest and rising transaction breadth. For law firm leadership, that combination matters more than one headline year. More situations mean more sponsor processes, more add-ons, more founder negotiations, more financing structures, more exits, more Golden Power analysis and more local counsel judgement (AIFI/PwC 2023; AIFI/PwC 2024; AIFI 2025).

This is why “Italy is attractive” is too soft. Italy is not attractive in generic brochure language. Italy is active, technical and relationship-heavy. In 2024, AIFI/PwC reported €14.903 billion invested, including 185 buyout deals worth €6.530 billion and infrastructure investment of €6.162 billion. It also reported that foreign operators accounted for 71% of invested amount (AIFI/PwC). In 2025, overall invested value fell, but deal count rose to 887, with buyouts still first by amount at €6.246 billion. That is exactly the kind of market where international capital needs local execution, and local execution needs senior trust (AIFI).

Capital is also localising. KKR announced on 28 May 2026 that it would open a Milan office covering Private Equity, Real Assets, Credit and Insurance, while also developing a private wealth business. KKR said it had deployed more than €10 billion in Italy since 2005 and cited FiberCop, Enilive and CMC as examples. More important than the date is the language: KKR described the office as part of a localisation strategy and said it was bringing more people into key markets (KKR). Ares made a similar move one year earlier. In May 2025, Ares announced a Milan office to improve access to the Italian market and strengthen capital raising and investment across European Direct Lending, Wealth Management and European Real Estate. It said it had deployed more than €1.6 billion in Italy as of 31 March 2025 and described Italy as an opportunity set for middle-market buyouts, long-term financings and growth capital (Ares).

That is legal-market signal. When sponsors localise capital, law firms cannot rely indefinitely on London referrals, occasional Italian counsel or European credentials sprayed across pitch decks. Sponsor localisation pushes legal localisation. Not always full-service localisation. Not necessarily large-office localisation. But senior private-capital judgement on the ground. Italy is not a whitespace market. It is a relationship-dense market with too few truly portable PE rainmakers. This is the same demand picture our companion read on whether private-equity law is hiring in 2026 tracks at market level — here it lands in one city.

Large-cap sponsors need cross-border PE execution, acquisition finance, regulatory timing, antitrust, Golden Power analysis, tax structuring, management rollover and exit planning. Infrastructure and real assets add public law, concession, regulated-sector and financing complexity. Upper mid-market sponsors need auction discipline plus judgement around founder sellers and local management. Mid-market funds need speed, price discipline and local relationships. Lower mid-market and family-capital transactions often require governance tact, not only documents. Private credit needs lender-borrower structuring, security-package realism and intercreditor judgement. Continuation funds create conflicts, valuation and LP process issues.

AIFI/PwC’s data show the market split clearly. In 2024, buyouts represented €6.530 billion and 185 deals; infrastructure represented €6.162 billion and 39 deals; small and medium deals below €150 million attracted €6.070 billion, the highest value then recorded for that layer (AIFI/PwC). In 2025, total value softened, but operation count increased 21% to 887. For law firms, the message is not “mega-deals are back” or “mega-deals are gone.” The message is that Italy has both headline sponsor transactions and broader mid-market depth (AIFI).

Founder and family ownership remain central to execution. AIDAF, citing the AUB Observatory, says family businesses form the backbone of the Italian economy and represent 65% of the total number of Italian companies in that observatory universe. KKR itself, in announcing its Milan office, described Italy’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as rich in founder- and family-owned businesses and tied that feature to its Italian PE strategy (AIDAF; KKR). That is not cultural colour. It changes mandate dynamics. Founder succession, rollover equity, governance rights, earn-outs, management incentives, family minority positions and reinvestment psychology all affect whether a sponsor wins and whether a deal closes. Lawyers who can translate between global sponsor logic and Italian ownership culture become more valuable than generalist corporate partners with generic deal experience.

The regulatory environment reinforces the same point. White & Case describes the Italian Golden Power regime as an FDI framework giving the Italian government special powers to intervene in a broad range of transactions involving strategic assets, including acquisitions of ownership interests, voting rights, security interests and extraordinary transactions; its 2025 FDI review describes Italy’s Golden Power Law as continuously expanding in reach (White & Case). Tax structuring also matters. Gianni & Origoni’s analysis of the Italian investment management exemption notes that Italy amended permanent establishment rules at the start of 2023 to create a conditional safe harbour for foreign investment vehicles using Italy-based managers or advisers. That is not headline PE gossip. It is exactly the kind of technical point that becomes central when global funds decide whether Milan is an execution base, a sourcing base or only a deal destination (Gianni & Origoni). Related capability sits in our private equity practice overview.

Chambers Europe 2026 ranks BonelliErede, Chiomenti, Gianni & Origoni, Latham & Watkins, Legance and PedersoliGattai in Band 1 for Private Equity in Italy. It ranks ADVANT Nctm and Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici in Band 2; Cleary, Freshfields, Giliberti Triscornia, Giovannelli and White & Case in Band 3; and A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance, Dentons, Gitti and Partners, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters and Simmons & Simmons in Band 4 (Chambers). Legal 500’s Italy private equity rankings place BonelliErede, Chiomenti, Cleary Gottlieb, Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici, Gianni & Origoni, Latham & Watkins, Legance and PedersoliGattai in Tier 1, and list Ropes & Gray Studio Legale among firms to watch — naming Cataldo Piccarreta as a leading partner and Giorgia Lugli as a next-generation partner (Legal 500).

That tells strategy committees four things. First, Italian elite independents remain formidable — Chambers Global 2026 ranks BonelliErede, Chiomenti, Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici, Gianni & Origoni, Legance and PedersoliGattai in Band 1 for Corporate/M&A high-end capability in Italy (Chambers Global). Second, US firms already compete in Italian PE: Latham is not theoretical — it is Band 1 in Chambers and Tier 1 in Legal 500. Any new US entrant is competing against established US sponsor credibility already accepted by the market. Third, UK/global firms remain serious, especially where finance, public M&A, infrastructure, capital markets and multi-jurisdictional execution matter — Linklaters’ Enilive financing role, White & Case’s Salcef role and A&O Shearman’s Multiversity financing role show that legal competition cuts across transaction layers, not only sponsor-side M&A (Linklaters). Fourth, specialist and mid-market firms matter more than US firms often assume: mid-market Italy is fragmented, founder-heavy and relationship-priced, and boutiques and domestic specialists can own access that larger global platforms cannot buy through brand alone.

Generic corporate is too broad. Milan does not need another foreign platform with “corporate capability.” The Italian market already has elite independents, global firms, US firms and boutiques ranked across PE and M&A. A generic corporate partner gives an entrant respectable coverage, not sponsor authority (Chambers). Finance-only entry is also incomplete. Private credit is central — Ares’ Milan office and AIFI/CDP private-debt data prove direct lending and capital solutions matter — but finance relationships often follow sponsor relationships. Lender-side credibility can be profitable, but it does not automatically put a firm at the front of an acquisition mandate (Ares; AIFI/CDP). PE/M&A sits closest to mandate origin. It is where the sponsor chooses counsel, frames risk, prices process, negotiates founder reinvestment, tests management rollover, decides whether to bid, decides whether to walk and decides how to use the platform. That is where local legal trust has the most leverage.

Ropes’ public launch followed that logic. Founding Milan hires joined the Private Equity group; Piccarreta became co-head of European Private Equity Transactions; the announcement focused on private equity clients and cross-border expertise (Ropes & Gray). The first question is not “Should we open in Milan?” The first question is “Who in Milan can carry sponsor trust into our platform?”

The press-release office has a familiar pattern. The firm announces Milan. It adds one or two respectable partners. It uses broad phrases: strategic growth, client demand, cross-border capability, European expansion. There is no clearly portable sponsor trust. No finance integration. No tax answer. No local ranking momentum. No reason for sponsors to move work from incumbents.

Milan punishes that model because incumbents are already embedded. Chambers and Legal 500 show deep competition across Italian elite independents, US firms, UK/global firms and specialist/mid-market firms. Sponsors do not need another logo. They need a reason to change behaviour (Chambers). London referrals help. They do not create local authority. London can introduce, coordinate, finance, support and globalise. London cannot underwrite founder succession from a distance. London cannot replace Italian relationship density. London cannot sit in every management meeting, governance negotiation or Golden Power-sensitive conversation with the same local authority as a trusted Milan rainmaker.

AIFI/PwC data show the 2024 rebound, 2025 volume depth and continuing buyout relevance; AIFI/CDP private-debt data show credit becoming central; KKR and Ares show capital moving onto the ground; public transactions show infrastructure, energy transition, public-to-private, continuation-fund and mid-market growth activity; and Chambers and Legal 500 show a legal market that already has powerful incumbents (AIFI/PwC 2024; AIFI 2025; AIFI/CDP 2025). Ropes & Gray read the market correctly because it followed the right sequence: PE team first, local relationships first, European PE leadership integration first, office as an extension of a sponsor platform rather than a generic European flag. That does not guarantee long-term dominance. It does show more intelligent entry logic than a press-release office (Ropes & Gray).

For US firms, the conclusion is blunt. Italy is not won by opening. It is won by being trusted before opening matters. Firms that enter with generic corporate coverage will look present and feel absent. Firms that enter with portable PE rainmakers, credible finance/tax/regulatory support and disciplined relationship diligence have a chance to become real sponsor platforms. A Milan office without local PE authority is not market entry. It is a press release with a lease. The first question is not “Should we open in Milan?” The first question is “Who in Milan can carry sponsor trust into our platform?” Ropes understood sequence: credibility first, office second.