About

This blog voices our perspectives on developments in M&A and private equity, comments on the impact of changes to corporate-commercial laws as they may affect M&A activity, relates insights derived from our experiences handling some of the largest and most complex transactions, and shares best practices from our adventures in deal-making.

Ana Badour is a partner in our Financial Services Group in Toronto. Her practice focuses on banking and secured transactions, including senior and subordinate loans, cross-border transactions, restructurings, acquisition financings, project finance as well as asset-based lending transactions

Cristian Blidariu has a general corporate and commercial practice that includes public and private mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate finance. Cristian is an associate in the Toronto office and a recipient of the Marshall A. Cohen JD/MBA Award.

Oliver Borgers maintains a general competition practice encompassing the application of competition law to mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, alliances, pre-merger notifications and market conduct. A partner in the Toronto office, Oliver regularly provides strategic advice to major national and international companies on pre-merger clearance matters in a variety of industries and has extensive experience in various marketing and pricing practices, market restrictions, exclusive dealing and a host of other compliance, civil and criminal issues that arise out of antitrust law. He also speaks English, French, German and some Spanish, and is qualified as an English solicitor. Oliver received his LLM from the University of Toronto.

Fraser Bourne has a corporate practice which focuses on securities law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. An associate in the Montréal office, Fraser has advised on multimillion dollar transactions for clients in the consumer products, food and beverage, energy and power, semi-conductor and automotive industries. He received his BCL from McGill University.

Matthew Cumming maintains a general corporate and securities practice with a focus on M&A and corporate finance. A partner in the Toronto office, Matthew is the co-author of Shareholder Remedies in Canada published by LexisNexis Canada. He holds a JD from the University of Toronto, and an LLM in Commercial Law from Cambridge University. Prior to joining the firm, Matthew clerked for the Honourable Mr. Justice John C. Major at the Supreme Court of Canada, and practised corporate and securities law in New York.

Waleed Elgohary has a general corporate practice as an associate in the Toronto office. Prior to joining the firm, he worked as an engineer at one of Canada’s leading aerospace companies.

Peter Goode is a partner in our Business Law Group. His practice focuses on mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations, private equity and corporate finance. He is a member of the Steering Committee for the firm’s National Private Equity Group, and is also a member of the firm’s Investment Dealer Steering Committee in Calgary. Mr. Goode has been recognized as one of Canada’s leading private equity lawyers, appearing in the 2010 and 2011 editions of Lexpert’s Annual Canadian Legal Directory.

Heidi Gordon has a general corporate practice in the firm’s Toronto office. She has a JD from Queen’s University and a BA (Hons.) in Philosophy and Ethics from the University of Western Ontario. While at Queen’s, Heidi was on the Dean’s List, and received the David Sabbath Prize in Corporate Finance and the Law Society of Upper Canada Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. She also was an associate editor of the Queen’s Law Journal.

Vanessa Grant’s practice focuses on corporate finance, M&A and private equity, specifically public and private financings, IPOs, corporate governance, joint ventures and licensing and distribution agreements. A partner in the Toronto office, Vanessa provides corporate and commercial legal advice to national and international clients, specializing in technology and life sciences companies. She lectures regularly on topics related to M&A, securities law, corporate governance and teaches securities law at Queen’s University. Vanessa is on the Boards of Directors of the Earlscourt-Crèche Child Development Institute and Summerworks Theatre Festival.

Geoff Hall‘s practice focuses primarily on corporate/commercial litigation, and he also has extensive experience in bankruptcy/restructuring litigation, constitutional and administrative law litigation. A partner in the Toronto office, Geoff authored Canadian Contractual Interpretation Law, which has been cited numerous times by the courts including by the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as in numerous articles. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, where he teaches a course on contractual interpretation. He has been a guest speaker at numerous conferences and seminars. Geoff clerked for the Honourable Justice William Stevenson of the Supreme Court of Canada after graduating from the University of Toronto as a Silver Medallist.

Robert Hansen advises clients on M&A and capital markets transactions. Specifically, he works with purchasers, vendors and special committees of boards of directors on the purchase and sales or shares and assets of public and private companies, as well as with issuers, investment dealers and investors in connection with offerings of securities by way of private placement and prospectus. A partner in the Toronto office, Robert is on the faculty of The Directors College founded by McMaster University and teaches seminars in advanced securities law at the University of Windsor and the University of Western Ontario.

Matthew Kelleher’s practice focuses on private M&A and corporate finance, specifically major transaction for banks, private equity firms, pension funds and large corporations in the financial, industrial and consumer products sectors. A partner in the Toronto office, Matthew is the author of several articles and papers with a corporate finance perspective. He contributes a significant amount of time to pro bono matters and was nominated in 2007 and 2008 for the Canadian Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Pro Bono Award.

Thomas Lavier’s practice focuses on infrastructure projects, especially projects that take place through public-private partnership and wind power. An associate in the Montréal office, Thomas previously interned at the Québec National Assembly through a merit scholarship by the Fondation Jean-Charles Bonenfant. He has lived, studied and worked in Ottawa, Paris, Mexico and Québec City.

Tyler McAuley has a general corporate practice in the Toronto office. Tyler previously served on the editorial board of the Queen’s Law Journal and represented Queen’s as a member of the Wilson Moot team. He is also a regular contributor to the Annotated Ontario Securities Legislation book.

Ian Michael has a general corporate and securities practice, with a focus on public M&A and corporate finance. A partner in the Toronto office, Ian advises public and private companies in a variety of industries, including consumer goods manufacturing, aviation, mining and investment management. He acts both for corporate issuers of securities and for the underwriters and investors in private placements and public financings. Ian teaches seminars on M&A at the University of Western Ontario and at Queen’s University. He is a contributor to Annotated Ontario Securities Legislation published by CCH.

Leslie Milroy’s practice focuses on public and private M&A, corporate finance, continuous disclosure and general corporate matters. She is also a member of our National Consumer & Retail Group. An associate in the Toronto office, Leslie regularly represents major corporations, financial institutions, investors, emerging growth businesses, and issuers and dealer syndicates. She is a regulator contributor to Annotated Ontario Securities Legislation published by CCH. Leslie recently returned to McCarthy Tétrault from a six month secondment to the Corporate Finance Team and M&A Team of the Corporate Finance Branch of the Ontario Securities Commission.

Philip Moore advises on a broad range of corporate and securities matters, including domestic and cross-border capital markets and M&A transactions, corporate governance and corporate reorganizations. A partner in the Toronto office, Phil provides corporate, securities and commercial advice to a number of public and private corporations and their boards of directors, financial institutions and investment banks. He is on the Board of Directors Neenah Paper Inc., which is listed on the NYSE.

W. Ian Palm is the leader of the Private Equity Group. His practice focuses on the areas of M&A, private equity and corporate finance. Ian advises several of the firm’s major national and international corporate clients, private and public growth companies, pension funds, private equity groups, venture capital investors, issuers, investors and underwriters on private placements, public offerings, fund formation and investment, and public and private M&A. He draws upon expertise and experience gained in industries such as power, technology, energy, financial services, infrastructure, communications, clean technology and life sciences. Ian lectures frequently on private equity, M&A and securities law.

Genevieve Pinto has a corporate finance, securities, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance matters practice. An associate in the Vancouver office, Genevieve represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including mining, technology, biotech, real estate and retail.

Leila Rafi has a transactional practice that focuses on Canadian and international securities offerings and private and public mergers and acquisitions. An associate in the Toronto office, Leila also provides securities regulatory advice, and deals with corporate governance issues, specializing in all aspects of director and officer indemnification. Leila teaches securities law at the University of Windsor and at the University of Western Ontario, and is also an instructor for a securities course at the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario.

Max Thelonious Rogan is a partner in our Business Law Group in Montréal. His practice focuses mainly on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, take-over defence and general commercial law. Prior to joining McCarthy Tétrault, Mr. Rogan worked in the business law group of another major Canadian law firm, during which time he was involved in a number of merger and acquisition, corporate finance and cross-border transactions.

Iain Scott is a partner in the Business Law Group in the firm’s Montréal office. Mr. Scott practises corporate and securities law, concentrating on mergers and acquisitions, financings, reorganizations, fund formation and joint ventures. He has extensive experience in cross-border and multi-national transactions for Canadian, US and European clients, including strategic buyers and financial sponsors. He also has significant experience in venture capital financings and other transactions involving technology-based businesses.

William Scott maintains a litigation practice which includes the resolution of insurance coverage disputes, reinsurance disputes and complex general liability claims. A partner in the Toronto office, William has been certified since 1999 as a Specialist in Civil Litigation by the Law Society of Upper Canada, the governing body of the Ontario legal profession. William has been a teacher of the Civil Procedure Section of the Law Society’s Bar Admission Course and has taught at Advocacy and Negotiation/Mediation Skills Workshops in-house and Advocacy Workshops at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Véronique Wattiez-Larose‘s practice focuses on M&A and private equity. A partner in the Montréal office, she represents clients in a wide variety of areas including biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, video games and computer software, the music industry, the clothing industry and aeronautics. She also advises on all commercial aspects of intellectual property law. Véronique is a Canadian Registered Trade-mark Agent, as well as a member of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. She also sits on the management committee of the Université de Montréal L.R. Wilson Chair in Information Technologies and E-Commerce Law. She pursued graduate studies at the Institute for Comparative Law at McGill University.