Steve Kozachok

Partner Minneapolis

Summary

Steve has extensive experience in private equity, IT and healthcare transactions. He practices principally in the areas of:

  • Mergers and acquisitions.
  • Financings.
  • Strategic relationships.
  • Commercial contracts.
  • Entity formation and business planning.
  • Corporate governance.
  • General corporate and securities law.

Steve has over 25 years of corporate and securities law experience. He practiced as an associate and then partner in the corporate group of a large local law firm for eight years before serving for three years as the associate general counsel for a major medical device company, where he was responsible for M&A, financings, securities law compliance, and reporting and corporate governance matters.

Steve next served as general counsel for a leading, publicly held computer security software company until its sale to a publicly held buyer in late 2008, and then as general counsel for the network security division of the post-merger entity until 2009.

He has participated in panel discussions regarding M&A, information technology, and medtech matters, and has frequently been quoted in the local news media. Steve also served as an adjunct professor for healthcare M&A at Mitchell | Hamline School of Law. He is fluent in French, having worked as a translator for Cargill in Paris and a market research analyst at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and having received the Superior Level Diploma in Business French from the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Awards

  • Honoree, Best Lawyers in America, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law

    (2019 – present)

  • Honoree, Top Lawyers, Corporate Law, Minnesota Monthly (2023)

  • Honoree, Chambers USA, 2005 (One of only two individuals in Minnesota listed as up-and-coming M&A attorneys).

  • Honoree, Rising Star, Minnesota Super Lawyers, five consecutive years

All Service Areas

Education

  • George Washington University Law School (1996)

    cum laude

  • University of Notre Dame (1992)

    cum laude

Admissions

  • State - Minnesota

Notable Matters

Representative IT-related Transactions Include:

  • Sale of Pinnacle Group to Harbor, a portfolio company of Renovus.
  • Financing of Leadferno, LLC.
  • Sale of Nifty Marketing to ProSites, Inc.
  • Sale of GatherUp to Grade Us.
  • Sale of Spyder Trap to Bright Health.
  • Sale of LuciData to The Newberry Group.
  • Sale of Network Instruments, LLC to Thoma Bravo, LLC.
  • Sale of Secure Computing Corporation to McAfee, Inc.
  • Sale by Secure Computing Corporation of SafeWord network access business to Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd.
  • Acquisition by Secure Computing Corporation of Securify, Inc.

Representative Healthcare-related Transactions Include:

  • Sale of PharmaForce to Aquiline Capital Partners.
  • Sale of Bluesight, Inc. to Thoma Bravo.
  • Merger of StemoniX, Inc. with publicly-held Cancer Genetics, Inc.
  • Representation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota in the $450 million sale of its Further spending account business to HealthEquity.
  • Sale of two orthopedic device companies to Smith + Nephew.
  • Sale of a nonprofit hospital and senior care facility to a large, nonprofit health system.
  • Acquisitions by UnitedHealth Group entities of:
    • Fidelity Insurance Group.
    • Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Inc.
    • Golden Rule Financial Corporation.
    • AmeriChoice Corporation.
    • Definity Health Corporation.
    • Spectera, Inc.
    • Lifemark Corporation.
  • Acquisitions by St. Jude Medical, Inc. of:
    • Advanced Neuromodulation Systems, Inc.
    • EP MedSystems, Inc.
    • A contingent acquisition option for an embolic protection device company.
  • Sale of Pulmonetic Systems, Inc. to VIASYS Healthcare (now CareFusion).
  • Acquisition of a cutting-edge medical technology company by an S&P 500 client.
  • Venture investment by a medical device company in an ablation catheter company.
  • PIPE investment by St. Jude Medical, Inc. in Cambridge Heart, Inc.
  • Acquisition by Quintiles Transnational Corp. of the assets of Bioglan Pharma, Inc.
  • Financing transactions for:
    • Recuro Health, Inc.
    • Phenomix Sciences, Inc.
    • Oncodea, Inc.
    • Ilion Medical, Inc.
    • LifeBridge Innovations, PBC.
    • StemoniX, Inc.
    • Raymedica, Inc.
    • HealthEZ, Inc.
    • EM Vascular, Inc.
    • Virtuel Medical, Inc.
    • Image-Guided Neurologics, Inc.
    • VOCxI Health, Inc.

Representative Private Equity Transactions Include:

  • Representation of Electrical Builders Industries in its sale to Pelican Energy Partners.
  • Representation of Communications Tower Group I in its partnership with Novacap.
  • Purchase by PCM Companies of Suburban Manufacturing, Inc.
  • Sale of National Truck Underwriting Managers, Inc. to AmWins Group, Inc.
  • Sale of Shur-Co, LLC to Behrman Capital.
  • Sale of a manufacturer and value-added distributor of trade show exhibits.
  • Sale of a property maintenance services company.
  • Purchase and later sale of a shooting target and firearm accessory company.
  • Purchase and later sale of a casino chair manufacturing company.
  • Purchase of numerous heavy equipment manufacturing companies.
  • Purchase of a trucking tarp manufacturing company.
  • Purchase and later sale of a wine capsule manufacturing company.
  • Purchase of a UK-based arts and crafts company.
  • Purchase of a direct mail company.
  • Purchase of a taxidermy supply company.
  • Purchase of a UK-based cash drawer company.

Representative Emerging Company Clients Include:

  • Phenomix Sciences, Inc.
  • Oncodea, Inc.
  • Lifebridge Innovations, PBC
  • Leadferno, LLC
  • Ilion Medical, Inc.
  • Crotega, L.L.C.
  • Surgical Design Innovations, LLC

Speeches and Publications

  • Presenter, “Best Practices for Your M&A Playbook,” June 12, 2014

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association

    Member

  • LegalCORPS

    Past Volunteer

Community Involvement

  • Boy Scouts of America

    Past Finance Chair, Boy Scout Troop 9045

  • Somerset Country Club

    Past Member, Board of Directors

  • Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

    Past Member, Board of Directors, MinnDakotas Chapter

  • The First Tee of Saint Paul

    Past Member, Board of Directors

  • Twin Cities Diversity in Practice

    Past Mentor