Jeffrey J. Steinle

Jeff is a corporate attorney who advises life science companies executing M&A, financing, joint venture, licensing and commercial transactions.

He serves as outside general counsel to life science companies, navigates highly regulated environments and negotiates effective strategic and commercial relationships that help clients develop, commercialize and sell their products.

Jeff chairs the firm’s Corporate & Securities Department and co-chairs its Life Sciences Group. He chairs the Board of Directors of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.

Before joining Fredrikson, Jeff founded and led a consulting firm that provided general counsel services 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. Previously, Jeff was the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of SUPERVALU, INC. where he led the M&A, securities, financing and real estate legal teams. Jeff 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. Earlier in his career, Jeff was a corporate and restructuring attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom.

Jeff’s expertise spans the deal-making continuum from strategy creation, scouting and pipeline development through venture-capital investing, negotiation and execution to integration. Jeff also has significant experience with acquisitions, financing, joint ventures, licenses, divestitures, company carve-outs, distribution and supply relationships. He is a highly effective and efficient day-to-day manager of his clients’ legal needs, always ensuring that a company’s legal strategy supports and adds value to its growth and ROI objectives. Jeff’s life science experience spans all classes of medical devices, biotechnology, food technology and the use of artificial intelligence, smart algorithms and “big data.”

Representative experiences and engagements include the following:

• Outside general counsel to VC funded pre-revenue company developing heart failure fluid management tools.
• M&A counsel in acquisition of development stage implantable drug delivery system.
• M&A counsel in carve-out divestiture of a suite of spinal and pain therapy products.
• M&A counsel in acquisition of commercialized digital behavioral monitoring company.
• Sale of vital signs monitoring company in a transaction to large Japanese acquirer.
• Outside general counsel to multi-generation family-owned egg producer.
• Sale of a cloud based senior living safety system to Netherlands based acquirer.
• Outside general counsel to pulmonary quantitative imaging analytics company.
• M&A counsel in acquisition of an arrhythmia treatment company.
• Counsel in joint venture to develop novel renal failure therapies.
• M&A counsel in investment and option to acquire peripheral vascular balloon catheter product lines from Singapore-based consortium.
• Counsel in joint venture to provide telehealth services within medical device monitoring video-enabled platforms.
• Transaction counsel in $43B acquisition structured as tax inversion with respect to required international regulatory filings and certain integration matters.
• Divestiture of external monitoring and defibrillator division serving hospital and EMS customers.
• Acquisition of peripheral vascular therapies company, in a $500M transaction.
• Acquisition of early-stage company with a treatment for drug-resistant hypertension, in an $800M transaction.
• Acquisition of a company with a portfolio of mechanical and tissue heart valves, in a $370M transaction.
• Acquisition of a minimally invasive spinal therapy company, in a $3.9B transaction.
• Outside general counsel to neurology therapy company.
• Development stage cell therapy company in the negotiation of the development and sourcing of cell lines.
• Legal and strategic advisor to pharmaceutical company restructuring its business operations and refinancing its debt.
• Outside general counsel and strategic advisor to small medical device company with commercialized hearing device.
• $3.3B divestiture of non-core retail subsidiary.
• Company counsel in $170M stock tender and investment by a private equity led consortium.
• Company counsel in refinancing of $2.5B secured lending facility and refinancing of $370M of notes through a tender offer and reissuance.
• Numerous other licensing, investment and joint venture transactions.

Education

• University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., 1996, magna cum laude
• Gustavus Adolphus College, B.A., 1991, magna cum laude

Admissions

• Minnesota, 1996

• Client Service All-Star, BTI Consulting, 2022
• Order of the Coif

• Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Board of Directors and Executive Committee, 2018-present
• Friends of FANA, Minnesota, Member, 2001-present
• Pillsbury United Communities, Board of Directors and Executive Committee, 2016-2024
• South Dakota Biotech Association, Board Member, 2019-2022
• BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, Board of Directors, 2013-2015
• The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago Adoptive Parents Guild, Board of Directors, 2002-2004
• Gustavus Adolphus Alumni Association, Class President, 2011-present, Class Agent, 1991-2000