Chicago giant Kirkland & Ellis has advised on Madison Dearborn Partners’ (MDP’s) $4.1bn acquisition of Irish paper packaging company Jefferson Smurfit Group (JSG), one of the largest private equity deals this year.

The deal sees MDP, one of the largest private equity houses in the US, buy JSG and its stake in Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (SSCC) in a cash offer through affiliated firm MDCP Acquisitions.