Twin Cities Startup Week 2020 Twin Cities Startup Week 2020
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Development Stage Strategic Investments with Acquisition Rights

- CDT
Hopin 76
Entrepreneurship Healthcare Investing Med Device/Medtech Technology
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Aleida Conners
Fredrikson & Byron, Attorney

Aleida is a corporate attorney who assists clients in executing domestic and cross-border merger, acquisition, divestiture, joint venture and equity investment transactions.

Aleida represents clients in all types of business transactions, focusing her practice in the areas of venture capital, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate law. In connection with these activities, she also assists clients with commercial matters regarding supply, manufacturing, sales and distribution and related agreements. Aleida works with companies in a variety of industries, with significant experience in the food, agriculture, life sciences and manufacturing industries.

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Amash Tareen
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Jeff Steinle
Fredrikson & Byron, Attorney

Jeff is a corporate attorney who advises life science companies executing M&A, divestiture, financing, joint venture, licensing and commercial transactions. He serves as outside general counsel to life science companies and has significant experience advising digital health companies as they navigate the myriad legal issues related to the growing use of artificial intelligence, smart algorithms and “big data” in medical technology.

Before joining Fredrikson & Byron, Jeff founded and led a consulting firm that provided general counsel services and strategic advice to life science companies, including serving as the General Counsel of Vios Medical, Inc., an emerging growth healthcare information technology company with an IoT-based patient management platform delivered as a service, prior to its sale to Murata Manufacturing Company in the fall of 2017. Previously, Jeff was the Vice President of Business Law and Deputy General Counsel of SUPERVALU, INC. where he led the legal teams advising the company and developing strategies related to the company’s M&A, securities, financing and real estate activities. Jeff also developed substantial medical technology expertise during his time at Medtronic as an M&A lawyer, corporate development leader and divisional counsel and has a strong background in healthcare law. Prior to joining Medtronic, Jeff was a corporate and restructuring attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom.

Jeff serves on the Boards of Directors and Executive Committees of Pillsbury United Communities and the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and the Board of Directors of the South Dakota Biotech Association.

While early stage healthcare companies may seek resources from established healthcare companies, they often want to remain independent while they pursue their healthcare-related vision and build value. 

Established healthcare companies expand and enhance existing product portfolios by acquiring early-stage technologies. They also want certainty that, if they help nurture an early-stage company, they will be able to acquire it once it is ready to exit without risk of being outbid by a competitor. 

To balance these issues, companies often use a structured acquisition, in which the established healthcare company invests in the early-stage company, often obtains some degree of commercial rights and negotiates an option to acquire the company at a pre-agreed price. Join attorneys from Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. as they explain the rationale for, structure of, and pros and cons of a structured acquisition.