Richard C. Witzel

Richard Witzel practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and general corporate and securities matters. Mr. Witzel has represented buyers, sellers and their financial advisors in negotiated and contested public acquisitions, private acquisitions and divestitures, management buyouts, restructurings, joint ventures and other strategic transactions.

He also has represented issuers and investment banks in public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities. Mr. Witzel has represented, among others:

• Rockwell Collins, Inc. in its $8.6 billion acquisition of B/E Aerospace, Inc.;
• Cardinal Health, Inc. in its $6.1 billion acquisition of the medical supplies business of Medtronic PLC;
• Stryker Corporation in its $1.7 billion acquisition of Mako Surgical, Inc., its $1.5 billion acquisition of the neurovascular division of Boston Scientific, Inc., its $1.3 billion acquisition of Physio-Control, Inc., and various other matters;
• the special committee of the board of directors of Tribune Company in its $8.2 billion going-private transaction through the use a leveraged-ESOP structure;
• CME Group Inc. in connection with its $4 billion joint venture with The McGraw Hill Companies;
• Navistar International Corporation in connection with shareholder activism and related corporate governance, financing and other matters;
• US BioEnergy Corporation in its $160 million IPO, its $230 million acquisition of Millennium Ethanol and its merger of equals with VeraSun Energy Corporation;
• CF Industries in its $715 million IPO and related conversion from a cooperative, and its $910 million acquisition of the minority interest in Canadian Fertilizers Limited, as well as various other acquisitions, joint ventures and financings;

Mr. Witzel also advises clients regarding general corporate and securities matters, including corporate governance and disclosure issues. He has been repeatedly recognized for Corporate/M&A by Chambers USA, was named as a 2017 Mergers & Acquisitions MVP by Law360 and has been named in IFLR1000 and Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America.

Education:

• B.C.L., University of Oxford, 1998
• J.D., Washington University School of Law, 1997
• B.S., Georgetown University, 1994

Admissions:

• Illinois
• Missouri