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Mark Alexander has more than 30 years of experience representing pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, and other clients across a wide range of industries, in complex deal reviews by global regulators and high-stakes antitrust litigation.
Mark provides sophisticated and practical counsel to help clients navigate the antitrust regulatory process in US, Europe, and China and gain clearance for billion-dollar deals. His experience includes advising Thermo Fisher Scientific in numerous multibillion-dollar deals, including its recent $1.85 billion acquisition of PeproTech Inc.
As lead antitrust litigation counsel, Mark has particularly deep experience in defending clients against claims under Section 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 2 of the Sherman Act. He also has broad commercial litigation and arbitration experience representing clients across a spectrum of industries, including the communications, oil and gas, consumer products, chemicals, and healthcare sectors.
Prior to joining Axinn, Mark practiced in the New York and London offices of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
Professional Activities
- American Bar Association, Section of Antitrust Law
- Connecticut Bar Association
Experience
Transactions
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $912 million acquisition of CorEvitas.
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $2.6 billion acquisition of The Binding Site.
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $1.85 billion acquisition of PeproTech Inc.
- Lead antitrust counsel to Centerbridge Partners portfolio company, KIK Custom Products Inc., in its acquisition of NC Brands LP.
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $13.6 billion acquisition of Life Technologies.
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $12.5 billion tender offer for QIAGEN N.V.
- Represented Johnson Controls in the $2 billion sale of its Scott Safety business to 3M.
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $7.2 billion acquisition of Patheon N.V.
- Represented McKesson in its $1.4 billion acquisition of CoverMyMeds LLC.
- Represented Ball Corporation in its $6.85 billion acquisition of Rexam PLC.
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $4.2 billion acquisition of FEI Company.
- Represented Charles River Laboratories International Inc. in its $585 million acquisition of WIL Research.
- Represented Thermo Fisher Scientific in its $1.3 billion acquisition of Affymetrix.
- Represented SunGard Higher Education in its $1.77 billion sale of SunGard Higher Education to Datatel.
- Represented Cingular in its $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless.
Litigation
- Represented Watson Laboratories (now Actavis) in obtaining a victory in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that helped expedite the entry of its generic version of Celebrex® to market.
- Represented national insurance broker Brown & Brown in obtaining summary judgement by the Connecticut Supreme Court dismissing all claims brought by Blumberg Associates Worldwide. Briefed and argued the appeal, resulting in an unanimous affirmance of a district court decision.
- Represented Watson Laboratories Inc. in securing summary judgment in litigation against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Honors
- Best Lawyers in America (2018 – 2023)
- Cornell Law Review, Symposium Editor
- American Jurisprudence Awards, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, and Torts
Thought Leadership
- United States: Mergers, The Antitrust Review of the Americas 2019, September 24, 2018
- United States: Mergers, The Antitrust Review of the Americas 2018, September 8, 2017
- Durbin Amendment Rules to Pare "Anticompetitive" Debit Card Interchange Fees, ABA, Section of Antitrust Law, Spring 2011
- Antitrust's New Big Brother: Feds Can Now Wiretap Suspected Offenders, American Bar Association, Section of Business Law, July 1, 2006
- Second Circuit Puts Antitrust Conspiracy's Skeletal Pleading Rules on a Diet, The Antitrust Source, March 2006
- Increased Judicial Scrutiny for the Administrative Crime, Cornell Law Review, March 1992
Events
- CBA Section of Business Law Meeting 2005
- ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting 2004
- Everything You Say Can and May Be Used Against You! Tips for Sharing Privileged and Competitively Sensitive Information During the Due Diligence Process
- What is "Real" Competition in Telecom? The Antitrust Significance of UNE-P
Education
- JD, cum laude – Cornell Law School (1992)
- BA – Indiana University (1989)
Admissions
- Connecticut
- New York
- Tennessee
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court District of Connecticut
- U.S. District Court Southern District of New York