Our PracticeOur M&A practice is widely regarded as the leading practice of its kind in Canada with over 90 practitioners in Toronto, Montréal and New York. Our M&A practice spans every industrial and service business sector in the country and includes representation in transactions of every size. It includes large, complex multi-jurisdictional transactions where we provide sophisticated corporate, securities, tax, capital markets, antitrust, real estate and environmental law expertise. It also includes many transactions which are small in comparison, but are also often extremely complex and require significant expertise.
Our Clients
We have represented acquirors and targets in negotiated/friendly transactions, including management buy outs (MBOs), as well as independent committees of directors. We also have extensive experience in hostile transactions, the most complex and demanding of M&A transactions.
Our reach extends well beyond our borders, having been engaged in matters for our clients throughout the world, acting in M&A transactions spanning several jurisdictions and, in some cases, having no relationship to Canada whatsoever.
Our Work
A small but representative sample of M&A transactions where Davies has advised clients includes, among others:
| Description |
Approx. Value |
| Advising BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, on its unsolicited bid to acquire Rio Tinto Group. This transaction would rank as one of the world's largest take-over deals and would create a combined company headquartered in Australia with a market capitalization of approximately US$360 billion. |
US$150 billion |
| Advising BCE Inc. on its acquisition by a private equity investor group led by Teachers Private Capital, the private investment arm of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Providence Equity Partners Inc. and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC. |
$51.7 billion |
| Advised Reuters Group plc on its merger with The Thomson Corporation to create Thomson-Reuters Corporation. The combination creates a global leader in electronic information services, trading systems and news. |
US$17.6 billion |
| Advised Goldman Sachs Group Inc., financial advisor to IPSCO Inc. on its acquisition by SSAB Svenskt Stal AB. |
US$7.7 billion |
| Advised Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. and Fidelity National Financial Inc. on its acquisition of Ceridian Corporation. |
US$5.3 billion |
| Advised Xstrata plc on its supported take-over bid for LionOre Mining International, ultimately acquired by MMC Norilsk Nickel. |
$4.6 billion |
| Advised Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. on its merger of equals with Bowater Inc. The combined entity, AbitibiBowater Inc., will be the third largest public paper and forest products company in North America. |
merger of equals |
| Advised Fortis Inc. on its acquisition of Terasen Inc. from Kinder Morgan, Inc. Terasen Inc. (formerly BC Gas Inc.) owns and operates Terasen Gas, one of the largest natural gas distribution utilities in Canada. |
$3.7 billion |
| Advised BCE Inc. on its sale of Telesat Canada, Canada's leading satellite operator, to Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications. |
$3.4 billion |
| Advised InnVest REIT, Cadbridge Investors LP and Westmont Hospitality Group on its acquisition of Legacy Hotels REIT. Davies is also representing InnVest REIT in connection with its public offering of approx. $270 million of subscription receipts and convertible debentures, the proceeds of which will partially fund InnVest REIT's portion of the take-over bid. |
$2.5 billion |
| Advised Onex Corporation on its acquisition of Eastman Kodak Company's Health Group, renamed Carestream Health, Inc. |
US$2.35 billion |
| Advised Agricore United on its acquisition by Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. |
$1.8 billion |
| Advised Dynatec Corporation on its acquisition by Sherritt International Corporation. |
$1.6 billion |
| Advised Dako Denmark A/S, a leading Denmark-based supplier of systems for cancer diagnostics, on its acquisition by private equity fund EQT V. |
US$1.28 billion |
| Advised TSX Group Inc. on its merger with Montréal Exchange Inc. to create TMX Group Inc., a leading integrated exchange group, in a deal valued at approximately $1.3 Billion. Davies is representing TSX Group Inc. |
$1.3 billion |
Recognition
As a result of these and numerous other complex transactions, our practice standards and capabilities in this area are recognized as world-class.
- Ranked first among Canadian law firms and 10th in the world by Bloomberg's M&A Legal Advisory League Table rankings for global announced deals in the first three quarters of 2008 and 5th in the world as counsel to principals
- Ranked 14th in the world by Thomson Financial's Legal Advisor League Table rankings for worldwide announced deals in 2007, with the highest average deal value of any law firm in the world
- Major player in 6 of the Top 10 Corporate Deals of 2007 as published by Lexpert Magazine
- Ranked first in the world in GSI's 2006 Third Quarter Legal Counsel Rankings, based on the dollar value of all transactions reported to the SEC
- Leading Canadian law firm for worldwide announced deals in Thomson Financial's 2006 Second Quarter Global M&A Legal Advisory Review
- Ranked second highest Canadian firm in Bloomberg's 2005 Canadian M&A Legal Advisory Tables based on volume. When comparing average deal size, Davies' average is significantly higher than the average deal size of any other Canadian law firm ranked
Davies is also consistently recognized among its peers, clients and third-party organizations for its standard of excellence in M&A.
- Consistently ranked among the leading firms in Canada for Corporate/M&A by Chambers Global's Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers for Business who noted that market observers felt it was "impossible to find better corporate advice anywhere in Canada"
- Leading Canadian law firm for corporate transactions in Toronto and among the very best in Montréal according to the 2008 LEXPERT®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada
- Ranked in the top tier of M&A firms in Canada by International Financial Law Review 1000's Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms 2008
- Ranked in the top tier in the 2007/2008 Practical Law Company's Cross Border M&A Handbook
We achieve this recognition because we excel at the most complex forms of transactions and apply our experience, depth and integrated team approach to achieve the best result for each of our clients.
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