Biography • Life Sciences - Transactional

Pran Jha is a partner in the corporate practice group in Sidley's Chicago office. His principal areas of practice are mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance as well as general corporate counseling.

Mr Jha has extensive experience representing purchasers and sellers in a variety of merger and acquisition transactions, including cross-border transactions. Transactions in which he played a major role include Smith & Nephew plc's offer for Centerpulse Ltd; NTT Communications Corporation's purchase of Verio, Inc; Smith & Nephew plc's purchase of ORATEC Interventions, Inc; the purchase of CareerBuilder, Inc by Tribune Company and Knight Ridder, Inc; Owens Corning's purchase of Fibreboard, Inc; the sale of The Chicago Dock & Canal Trust to Cityfront Center, LLC; the sale of Helene Curtis Industries, Inc to Unilever plc; and the sale of EMPHESYS Financial Group, Inc to Humana Inc. Mr Jha also has experience with spin-offs, having represented Marshall & Ilsley Corporation in its sponsored spin-off of Metavante Corporation.

Mr Jha has extensive experience with companies that develop and market medical products and pharmaceuticals, having represented such companies (and underwriters for such companies), including Baxter International Inc, Cephalon, Inc and Smith & Nephew plc, in a variety of mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions and general corporate matters.

Mr Jha also has been involved in the structuring and formation of numerous joint ventures involving industries including internet media, medical products and consumer products.

In addition, Mr Jha has extensive experience in representing issuers, underwriters and investors in public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities. Mr Jha also has experience in representing private equity investors and entrepreneurs in the formation and funding of early stage companies.

Mr Jha is an adjunct professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. Mr Jha received his JD (cum laude) from The University of Michigan Law School in 1991, and his AB (with high distinction) from the University of Michigan in 1988. He is admitted in Illinois.