Robert M. Oberlies

Bob is a trusted advisor to global private equity funds and leading strategic enterprises on complex U.S. and international platform and add-on acquisitions, including advising on several of the largest M&A deals in North America.

Bob has helped clients on their most sensitive and strategic projects across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, assisting private equity funds and multinational companies in completing key acquisitions and divestitures of a global nature. Bob has been doing business internationally for 25 years and was based in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai for 12 of those years. Bob has counseled clients across a broad range of industry sectors, including life sciences and health care, agribusiness, energy, consumer products, retail and logistics.

Bob has a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and a B.A. from Holy Cross College. He speaks Mandarin and is an active member of the American Bar Association and International Bar Association. Bob serves as Co-President of the Minnesota International Business Council and serves on the boards of Global Minnesota, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations/Minnesota.

Private Equity

• AUDAX (a leading national middle market PE Fund) with over 600 transactions completed by the Firm to date.
• ODYSSEY INVESTMENT PARTNERS portfolio company Protective Industrial Products in add on acquisitions in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Hong Kong and Thailand.
• BLACKROCK in its proposed investment in leading manufacturer of residential and commercial refrigeration systems.
• WARBURG PINCUS portfolio company Experity in its acquisition of Calibrator Health, a leading provider of clinical and practice management software to the urgent care space.
• AUDAX portfolio company Jitterbit, Inc., in add on acquisitions in the U.S., Brazil and Turkey.
• AUDAX portfolio company GCX in its acquisition of medical display company Jaco.
• WARBURG PINCUS portfolio company Reorg in add on acquisitions in the U.S. and Asia.
• TA ASSOCIATES portfolio company Fortra in its acquisition of Digital Guardian, a leading data loss prevention (DLP) software provider, with operations in the U.S. and more than twenty countries.
• New York-based PE fund in a $300 million purchase of safety equipment business in Italy, Spain, Poland and Czech Republic.
• Represented a leading national middle market private equity fund in platform acquisition of an industrial services and transportation company.
• CENTURY BRIDGE CAPITAL in connection with its real estate investment projects in the US and Asia.
• Private equity consortium in connection with the US$600 million sale of the Wittur Group to Triton Partners.
• Venture arm of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann in connection with its Series B Preferred Shares investment in telecom software provider.

Mergers and Acquisitions

• HONEYWELL in its structured acquisition of Fiplex Communications, Inc., and related businesses in the U.S., Argentina and Spain.
• MEDTRONIC in its acquisition of Singapore based QT Vascular Ltd., and its Chocolate® PTA Balloon Catheter business.
• 3M in its buy out of local partner in technology center of excellence in India.
• EUROPEAN LISTED COMPANY on in its acquisition of leading manufacturer of die cutting machinery.
• Leading Belgian steel wire conglomerate NV Bekaert SA in its acquisition of spinoff of Bridgestone.
• ZORAN CORPORATION in its US$ 166 million acquisition of Microtune, Inc.
• EUROPEAN LISTED COMPANY with respect to proposed US$ 1.4 billion spin- off and auction sale of Asian operations.
• NV BEKAERT SA in its acquisition of a controlling position in a leading state owned steel products manufacturer.

Life Sciences and Healthcare

• SHANGPHARMA, a leading Asia-based CRO company, in its pre-IPO financing and structuring equity incentive plan.
• ACIST MEDICAL in connection with negotiating and structuring distribution and commercial partnerships in Japan and China.
• WORLD LEADING HOSPITAL in regulatory compliance and related partnerships in the Americas and Asia.
• WORLD LEADING CARDIAC HOSPITAL in structuring joint venture with Asian private hospital to engage in specialty heart clinic.
• GLOBAL TOP 10 BIO-TECH COMPANY in its acquisition of traditional Chinese medicine company in China.
• MITSUI & COMPANY VENTURE PARTNERS in advising venture capital arm of Mitsui Group, one of Japan’s largest publicly traded companies, in connection with acquisition of Asia-based biopharma company and producer of cancer drugs.
• LEADING PRODUCER OF BIOLOGICAL TESTING TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC AND LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRIES in R&D collaborations, partnerships and corporate counseling for operations in the Americas, Europe and Japan.
• LEADING MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURER in connection with its operations in the US and Asia, including licensing, employment, regulatory compliance and commercial transactions.
• ORBIMED PARTNERS in a US$ 10 million Series C convertible redeemable preferred share placement among Orbimed Partners, Legend and Bonovo Orthopedics, a leading manufacturer of orthopedic implants for the Chinese healthcare market.
• US BIO-TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES in licensing and technology transfer agreements with companies and universities in North America, Europe and Asia.
• GLOBAL BIO-TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES in patent infringement lawsuits in the U.S. and China.
• LEADING DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL BIO-TECH COMPANIES on their general corporate matters, government affairs and regulatory matters regarding business operation, sales and distribution.
• HARSCO CORPORATION in its US$ 200 million acquisition of Excell Materials, Inc., a multinational company that specializes in the development of minerals technologies.
• SINOPEC INTERNATIONAL on its acquisition of Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Daylight Energy Ltd. (Daylight) for a total cash consideration of US$ 2.9 billion. The deal was named among LEXPERT’s Top 10 Deals of the Year.
• CNOOC INTERNATIONAL LIMITED with corporate reorganization in connection with its US$ 2.2 billion acquisition from Chesapeake Energy of a 33.3% net undivided interest in oil and gas leases covering 600,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale, Texas, U.S.
• CHINA’S LARGEST PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION COMPANY as international counsel in connection with its proposed investment in a multi-billion dollar LNG terminal and pipeline development project in Kitimat, British Columbia.
• PETRO CHINA in its bid to purchase assets in Norway and Africa.
• SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT’S ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY on proposed acquisition of U.S. geothermal power plant.
• Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation on a proposed US$ 1.2 billion outbound acquisition of mining assets in Africa.
• WUHAN IRON AND STEEL on US$ 400 million acquisition of Australian iron ore mine.
• CAREER EDUCATION in the acquisition and financing of a group of for-profit colleges.
• EXCELON CORPORATION in the sale of several U.S. subsidiaries and business divisions.
• EUROSOCCER DIGITAL TV HOLDINGS in its issuance of Series B Convertible Preferred Shares in a US$ 40 million private placement and earlier bridge financing.
• BEST LOGISTICS COMPANY LIMITED in the issuance of Series A, B and C rounds of growth financing.
• MATRIX PARTNERS in the bridge financing to and purchase of Series A redeemable preferred shares from PRC technology start-up.
• CM ACQUISITIONS in its acquisition from ABB of foundry business with business units in Germany, China and Brazil.

Joint Ventures, Licensing and Other Transactions

• MAYO CLINIC in connection with joint ventures and tech licensing transactions in the U.S., Asia, Canada and Latin America.
• NABORS INDUSTRIES in connection with the proposed formation of joint ventures with leading state-owned power generation company to develop oil and gas assets in the S. and provide drilling services in Asia.
• FORTUNE 50 TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY on the restructuring of its US$ 1 billion outsourcing agreements with IBM.
• CNOOC INTERNATIONAL with corporate reorganization in connection with its US$ 2.2 billion acquisition from Chesapeake Energy of a 33.3% net undivided interest in 600,000 acres in Eagle Ford, Texas, U.S.
• ITALY’S LARGEST INDUSTRIAL COMPANY in connection with its production sharing agreements with Chevron.

Anti-Corruption/CFIUS/Exon-Florio/Corporate Compliance

• Extensive experience advising U.S. and foreign companies on transactional, regulatory matters related to cross-border investment in the U.S., including all aspects of the S. national security review process of foreign investments, as administered by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”).
• More than 20 years of experience advising companies on anti-corruption and related compliance issues, conducting internal investigations and helping to design and implement effective compliance programs in a range of industries including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, energy, manufacturing and mining.
• Counseled US, Asian and European clients on foreign direct investment matters, customs disputes, labor and employment issues, including in the areas of collective bargaining, layoffs and equity incentive compensation.

Education

• Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, J.D., 2002
• Holy Cross College, B.A., 1996

Admissions

• Illinois, 2002
• Minnesota, 2016

Languages

• Best Lawyers in America, Mergers and Acquisition Law, 2025

Professional Activities

• American Bar Association, Member
• International Bar Association, Member

Community

• Minnesota China Business Council, Co-Chair
• Committee on Foreign Relations – Minnesota, Member
• St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Board Member and Governance Committee Vice Chair