Craig Roeder is a partner in Baker & McKenzie's Chicago office, where he is the practice group leader for the Corporate and Securities Practice Group. He is recognized as a leading lawyer in mergers and acquisitions in both Chambers USA 2011 and The Legal 500 United States 2011.

Practice Focus

Mr. Roeder advises clients in a broad range of industries on domestic and cross-border merger and acquisition transactions, including public company mergers and tender offers, joint ventures and strategic alliance arrangements, public and private securities offerings, securities law compliance and corporate governance, and other corporate transactional matters.

Representative Legal Matters

• Represented Ecolab Inc., a global leader in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety and infection prevention products and services, in its USD8.1 billion public stock and cash merger with Nalco Holding Company, the world’s leading water treatment and process improvement company (2011).
• Counseled Borders Group Inc., the national book retailer, on the proposed sale of its business to Direct Brands Inc. pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code in a transaction valued at USD450 million (2011).
• Advised Rio Tinto plc on the sale of its interest in an industrial scale hydrogen-to-power joint venture with BP plc to SCS Energy LLC (2011).
• Represented Hitachi Consulting Corporation in its acquisition of Sierra Atlantic Inc., a software consulting firm headquartered in the United States with its principal operations in India and China (2010).
• Advised Hospira Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed medical products manufacturer, on its acquisition through a cash tender offer of Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc., a NYSE AMEX listed drug development company, in a transaction valued at approximately USD170 million (2010).
• Represented Nipro Corporation, a medical devices and pharmaceutical manufacturer headquartered in Osaka, Japan, in its acquisition through a cash tender offer of Home Diagnostics Inc., a Nasdaq listed medical device firm, in a transaction valued at approximately USD215 million (2010).
• Represented Southwest Airlines Co. in its proposed acquisition of Frontier Airlines Inc. and its completed acquisition of assets of ATA Airlines Inc. pursuant to a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (2009).
• Advised Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. Co. Ltd. on its acquisition from Arvin Meritor Corporation of interests in joint ventures in the United States and Canada producing automotive components (2009).
• Represented Sims Group Limited, an Australian Securities Exchange listed metal recycling company, in its acquisition of Metal Management Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed company, in a share merger transaction valued at USD1.6 billion (2008).
• Counseled Behringer Harvard REIT I Inc., a US public real estate investment trust, on its acquisition of IPC Real Estate Investment Trust, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed real estate trust, in a transaction valued at USD1.4 billion (2008).

Professional Honors

• The International Who’s Who of Merger & Acquisitions Lawyers, Who's Who Legal, 2012

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association - Section on Business Law

Corporate Social Responsibility

Mr. Roeder serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Garrett Corporate and Securities Law Institute of the Northwestern University Law School. Mr. Roeder also serves as a member of the board of directors of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, a non-profit organization that designs and implements law-related education programs for elementary and secondary school students, and on the executive board of the Evanston Camp Scholarship Fund, a charitable fund providing summer camp scholarships to underprivileged children.

Admission

Illinois~United States (1985)

Education

Boston University School of Law  (J.D. cum laude) (1985)
University of Denver  (B.S.) (1982)