Travis J. Distaso

Travis is a San Francisco-based partner and the co-chair of the mergers and acquisitions group at Davis Wright Tremaine. He represents middle-market private equity sponsors on acquisitions, growth equity, and minority investments, primarily in consumer, franchise/multi-unit, and energy transition. He also represents neoclouds on powered land acquisitions and joint ventures for the development of AI data centers.

Travis is recognized by Legal 500 as a Tier One "City Elite" lawyer for corporate and M&A in San Francisco. He is a member of the firm's private equity group and data centers and digital infrastructure group, and is the chair of the San Francisco hiring committee.

He has closed more than 50 transactions for clients, including Dragoneer, Franchise Equity Partners, Gryphon Investors, Limerston Capital, the Octopus Energy and Sky Renewables funds, Olympus Partners, Peak Rock Capital, Pritzker Private Capital, Solamere Capital, Tiger Global, Vector Capital, and Westward Partners.

Before joining the firm, Travis was a partner in the private equity M&A group at Kirkland & Ellis and counsel in the growth equity group at Gunderson Dettmer, both in San Francisco. He began his career on the energy trading desk at Citi in Houston before earning his J.D. and M.B.A. from Cornell.