Introduction
John is an officer and shareholder in Fredrikson & Byron’s Corporate Group, practicing in the area of mergers, acquisitions and dispositions. A substantial portion of his practice also involves preparing and negotiating joint development, distribution, supply and licensing agreements; preparing and advising clients regarding SEC periodic reporting and compliance matters; preparing private and public securities offering documents; and providing general legal counsel to corporate boards, special board committees, and management.
Education
- University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., 1985, magna cum laude
- St. John's University, B.A., magna cum laude, Economics, Government, 1982
Bar Admissions
- Minnesota, 1985
- U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, 1986
Practice Areas
Representative Experience
- Represented Medtronic, Inc. in numerous acquisitions of publicly-traded companies, including ATS Medical, Arterial Vascular Engineering, Sofamor Danek, Xomed, and Bio-Medicus.
- Represented Medtronic, Inc. in numerous acquisitions of privately-held medical device companies, including Invatec, CoreValve, Setagon, PercuSurge, PS Medical, and AneuRx.
- Represented Medtronic, Inc. in numerous equity investments in private companies, distribution agreements, drug-device joint development agreements, supply agreements, and technology licensing agreements.
- Represented medical device company, Spiration, in its sale to Olympus Medical.
- Represented K&W Medical Specialties and Energy Solutions International in their sales to private equity buyers.
- Represented Porous Medica in its sale to Pentair.
- Represented management group in its leveraged buy-out of Bepex International from Hosokawa.
- Represented The Pillsbury Company in numerous acquisitions of private companies or divisions, including Heinz Bakery Products, McGlynn's Bakeries and DCA Bakeries division of Kerry Group Plc
- Represented The Pillsbury Company in numerous international transactions, including formation of Pacific Star, S.A. de C.V. joint venture (Mexico), formation of joint venture with Foodcorp. (South Africa); and acquisition of Knack und Back business (Germany)
- Represented The Pillsbury Company in numerous sales of subsidiaries and/or businesses, including: Flour Milling and Special Commodities Division to Cargill, Inc.; St. Louis Lithographing to SLL Acquisition Co.; and McGrew Color Graphics to Jefferson/Keeler Printing Company
- Represented First Team Sports, Hespeler Hockey and others in negotiation of celebrity endorsement agreements.
- Represented Minnesota Twins in attempted sales of ballclub to North Carolina investment group and to St. Paul, Minnesota investment group
- Represented Red Owl Stores in sales of its wholesale grocery business and retail grocery stores to Super Valu Stores, Inc.
Selected Publications & Presentations
- “Exclusive Forum Selection Clauses,” FredNEWS: Corporate & Securities, December 2011
Professional Activities
- Minnesota State Bar Association, Business Law Section
- Hennepin County Bar Association, Securities Section, Corporate Counsel Section
Judicial Clerkship
- Justice John E. Simonett, Minnesota Supreme Court, 1985-1986
Honors & Distinctions
- Woodward/White The Best Lawyers in America, 2007-2011
- Order of the Coif
- Omicron Delta Epsilon - Economics honor society
