Stefano Silvestri

I am a corporate and commercial transactions lawyer with particular focus on M&A, acting primarily for technology, industrial/manufacturing, and luxury, retail & consumer businesses.

I am often involved in deals with a significant international element, supporting global organizations, fast-growth tech companies and financial sponsors.

Having joined Bird & Bird since the launch of the Italian offices in 2003, been promoted to partner in 2008, co-led our international Corporate Group from 2014 to 2019, co-headed our San Francisco office from 2018 to 2021 and served as board member of the Firm from 2021 to 2025, I can quickly line up the right teams globally across practices and sectors to meet the needs and expectations of our clients.

As a testament to my sector focus, I have been recognised by the Legal 500 multiple times as one of the leading Italian lawyers in the manufacturing, TMT and retail industries.

I am a member of the Milan bar since 2003 and was a Registered Foreign Legal Consultant in California from 2018 to 2023.

• Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON): advising the global software industrial Fortune 100 company on the acquisition and take private of Civitinavi Systems S.p.A. (BIT: CNS), a vertically integrated Inertial System Supplier
• Crocs (NASDAQ:CROX): advising the global casual footwear leader on (i) the acquisition of footwear brand "Hey Dude" for $2.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal and (ii) the disposal of the production unit of its Italian subsidiary EXO Italia.
• PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG): advising the global coatings and paints supplier on the acquisition of the powder coatings division of Arsonsisi S.p.A..
• TriMas Corporation (NASDAQ:TRS): advising the diversified manufacturer of engineered products on the acquisitions of closures and dispensers manufacturers across different industries (i) Affaba & Ferrari S.p.A.; (ii) Taplast S.p.A., and (iii) Plastic S.r.l..
• Columbia Sportswear (NASDAQ: COLM): advising the global outerwear brand on the acquisition of the manufacturer of the "OutDry" brand and related water-proofing technology.
• Heska Corporation (NASDAQ: HSKA): advising the leading supplier of advanced veterinary diagnostics and specialized products, in the acquisition of BiEsseA S.r.l..
• Flex-N-Gate Corporation: advising the Tier 1 Canadian automotive supplier on the acquisition of the Osram Group subsidiary specialized in the production of advanced lighting systems for OEM customers.
• Doctolib: advising the French digital health "Unicorn" on the acquisitions of (i) Dottori.it S.r.l, a platform for online booking of diagnostic and lab and (ii) Vettore Rinascimento S.r.l., a healthcare software.
• Satispay: advising the Italian fintech "Unicorn" on the acquisitions of (i) AdvisorEat S.r.l., a platform of affiliated restaurants to accumulate points for gift cards, vouchers or donations; and (ii) Onyon S.r.l., a developer of solutions to order and split the bill inside bars and restaurants.
• Seedtag: advising the Spanish AdTech "Unicorn" on the acquisition of AtomikAd S.r.l., a developer of AI based solutions for digital advertising.
• Hootsuite: advising the Canadian AdTech 'Unicorn' on the acquisition of AdEspresso S.r.l., a SaaS solution for social media advertising.
• Ledworks: advising the founders of the smart lighting system branded "Twinkly", on its sale to pe sponsor DeA Capital.
• Building Energy: advising on the sale of 51% of "Be Charge", the second largest EV charging stations infrastructure in Italy, to pe sponsor Zouk Capital.
• Tomorrow London: advising the UK fashion platform on an equity investment from pe sponsor THCP and on the acquisitions of the brands 'Coperni', 'A-Cold-Wall', 'C.L.B.' and 'Martine Rose'.
• Ballarini Family: advising the owners of premium cookware manufacturer Ballarini Paolo e Figli S.p.A. on its acquisition by ZWILLING J.A. Henckels.
• Barbera Family: advising the owners of the luxury menswear brand "Luciano Barbera" in (i) the sale to pe sponsor Tengram CP and (ii) subsequent repurchase of the brand.