Joe Alexander is a senior partner in the financial services and business and securities teams.He has been practicing as a commercial lawyer for over thirty years.Joe is also a Certified Public Accountant, and a member of the Committee on Commercial Financial Services in the Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association.
Joe has counseled and represented various private and public companies in literally hundreds of transactions aggregating in value into the billions of dollars.The transactions ranged in size from the sale or purchase of a small business to sophisticated multimillion dollar mergers and financings of public corporations.The transactions included sales, purchases, mergers and financings of numerous companies.With his CPA background, he has guided public and private boards of directors, as well as business owners, in assessing the financial merits of proposed transactions.In many of these transactions, he quarterbacked the negotiations for the significant economic terms of the transaction as well as legal issues.Many of these transactions were extraordinarily complex and required Joe to assemble a multi-lawyer team from his firm to handle the various elements of the transactions, each providing his or her expertise in areas such as real estate, tax, environmental, construction, securities and intellectual property.
University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, Illinois, J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, B.A., Bachelor of Arts
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Experience
Sale by merger of AppTec Laboratory Services, Inc. to WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc.
Sale by merger of Gentra Systems, Inc. to Qiagen North American Holdings Inc.
Negotiation of the business and financial terms of Northstar Commuter Service with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation including acquisition of commuter easements for $107,500,000 and the terms of joint use in perpetuity.
An acquisition by merger of National City Bancorporation by Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for approximately $260,000,000. Joe served as the lead lawyer for National City Bancorporation in structuring and negotiating the transaction. The complexities included matters of banking, securities, tax, real estate and environmental law. Joe played a key role in advising and assisting the Board of Directors of National City Bancorporation in their evaluation of the merits of the transaction and its terms and structure. He negotiated certain elements of the transaction and assisted a committee of the Board of Directors in formulating strategies for negotiating the transaction.
A series of transactions were undertaken by Joe on behalf of what is now called Identix Incorporated, a public corporation listed on NASDAQ. Identix is one of the world's leading biometric security technology companies. Joe was hired in 1999 by Digital Biometrics, Inc., a small public company ("DBI"). He assisted senior management with aggressive and creative strategies in building shareholder value for the company. Joe was the lead counsel in the acquisition by DBI of Visionics Corp. in a merger transaction in 2001 valued at approximately $37,000,000. Visionics Corp. developed facial recognition technology which complemented DBI's fingerprint and systems security technology. Joe advised the Board of Directors in its evaluation of the transaction. He also led a team of lawyers in the various tax, securities, intellectual property, corporate and real estate elements of the transaction. He served as chief legal negotiator of various legal and business elements of the transaction. DBI then changed its name to Visionics Corporation ("Visionics").
Subsequently, Visionics merged with and into Identix Incorporated ("Identix"), another significant biometric security technology company, in a merger of equals. While Identix was the surviving company, the CEO of Visionics became the CEO of Identix, and Identix relocated to Minnetonka, Minnesota, where its corporate offices are today. The size of the transaction was approximately $397,000,000, creating a combined market value of the surviving company of almost $800,000,000. Joe advised the Board of Directors of Visionics in their evaluation, structuring and negotiation of the transaction. He served as the chief legal negotiator of the various legal and business elements of the transaction and led a team of lawyers in resolving various tax, corporate, securities, intellectual property and real estate elements of the transaction.
Early in his career, Joe was the legal advisor to the developers and builders of Air Cargo City, a warehouse complex located adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airport. He advised his clients in real estate acquisitions, leasing, construction and government relations matters. He ultimately represented his clients in connection with the sale of the project to Spacecenters. He was intimately involved in the evaluation, structuring and negotiation of the transaction.
Multimillion dollar acquisition of Condux Corporation by Hanson Building Materials America, Inc. Joe was selected by Hansen Building Materials America, Inc. to represent it in the acquisition of Condux Corporation, which included such well-known local subsidiaries as Spancrete and Northstar Concrete, all involved in various phases of the construction industry. He negotiated the acquisition agreement which included various significant environmental, real estate, tax, construction and corporate issues. Joe was called upon to assemble and lead a team of legal experts in connection with this successful acquisition.
