Kirkland & Ellis Advised AE Industrial Partners And Firefly Aerospace On Upsized IPO

Kirkland & Ellis advised AE Industrial Partners and Firefly Aerospace on upsized IPO

Kirkland & Ellis advised AE Industrial Partners and its portfolio company Firefly Aerospace Inc. (Nasdaq: FLY), a market-leading space and defense technology company and the only commercial company to achieve a fully successful moon landing, on its upsized initial public offering of 19.3 million shares of common stock at a public offering price of $45.00 per share. In addition, the underwriters exercised their option to purchase an additional 2.9 million shares at the IPO price, closing concurrently with the base deal. Firefly’s common stock began trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “FLY” on August 7, 2025, surging 34% on its first trading day.

This IPO is the largest Space & Defense Technology IPO ever and the 10th largest industrials IPO to date.

The Kirkland & Ellis team advising on the transaction included capital markets lawyers Robert M. Hayward, P.C. (Partner, Chicago), Kevin Frank (Partner, Chicago), Ashley Sinclair (Partner, Chicago), Parker Davis (Associate, Chicago), Drew Kohlmeier (Associate, Chicago), Vivian Liu (Associate, Chicago), and Sara Shoemaker (Associate, Chicago); corporate lawyers Matthew S. Arenson, P.C. (Partner, Miami), Jeffrey P. Swatzell, P.C. (Partner, Chicago), Elena G. Simion (Partner, Salt Lake City), Neil Datar (Associate, Los Angeles), Veronica Yunlu Shen (Associate, Bay Area – Palo Alto), and Alanna Potter (Associate, Bay Area – Palo Alto); executive compensation lawyers Michael Falk, P.C. (Partner, Chicago), Jake A. Ebers (Partner, New York), and Kelsie Harris (Associate, New York); tax lawyers Rachel L. Cantor, P.C. (Partner, Chicago) and Joe Morley (Associate, Chicago); debt finance lawyers Michelle Kilkenney, P.C. (Partner, Chicago), Carolyn L. Aiken (Partner, Chicago), Chris Gambini (Associate, Dallas), and Mitchell Steeves (Associate, Chicago); and technology & IP transactions lawyers Aaron H. Lorber, P.C. (Partner, Chicago), Jeffrey J. Seroogy (Partner, Chicago), and Srinithi Narayanan (Associate, Chicago).

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