Our PracticeThe Competition & Foreign Investment Review group is one of the leading practices in the Canadian marketplace, with 19 lawyers, many of whom are fluently bilingual. Our lawyers advise clients on the full spectrum of competition and trade matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, competition aspects of strategic commercial activities, trade practices, pricing policies, relationships with customers and competitors, marketing, and distribution. We also represent clients in civil and criminal, as well as class action matters, in various Canadian courts and before the Competition Tribunal, including dealing with defence of cartel, abuse of dominance and other Competition Bureau investigations.
Our lawyers have developed specialized experience in many industries where competition issues are interrelated with other legal or regulatory concerns, including telecommunications in relation to rapid technological change and deregulation, financial institutions in relation to competition issues arising from industry consolidation due to deregulation and global competitive pressures, and energy in relation to solving utilities' antitrust problems that have arisen from the decreasing level of industry regulation.
Our Clients
We are frequently retained by and work with:
• Major domestic and international corporations;
• Trade associations;
• International non-governmental organizations on legislative and other developments in competition policy matters; and
• Leading law firms in the United States and elsewhere in the world to advise on the Canadian competition law issues associated with international transactions and investigations, as well as competition aspects of other matters involving their clients.
Our Work
Below is a sampling of some of the publicly-known matters in which we have been involved:
• Davies advised Reuters Group PLC in the $17.6 billion merger of Reuters Group PLC and Thomson Corporation to create Thomson-Reuters Corporation;
• Davies acted for Xstrata plc, including on competition and Investment Canada Act matters, in its acquisition of Falconbridge Ltd. to create the world's fourth-largest mining company. The transaction valued Falconbridge at $24.1 billion and is the largest successful all cash offer in Canadian history;
• Representing the purchasing group with respect to InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust, in partnership with Cadbridge Investors LP, a joint venture entity between affiliates of Cadim Inc., a division of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and Westmont Hospitality Group, who have announced a take-over bid for all of the outstanding units of Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust. The deal is valued at approximately $2.5 billion;
• Davies advised private equity members of the purchasing syndicate in their definitive merger agreement with Kinder Morgan, Inc. to acquire Kinder Morgan, Inc. for approximately US $22 billion;
• Davies acted for Barrick Gold Corporation in its successful US$10.4 billion takeover bid for Placer Dome Inc. to form the world's largest gold mining company. Davies also acted for Barrick Gold Corporation with respect to the $1.6 billion disposition of Placer Dome's Canadian mining assets and an interest in a foreign development project to Goldcorp Inc.;
• Davies acted for The Gillette Company on the Canadian aspects of its US$57 billion acquisition by The Procter & Gamble Company;
• Davies acted for Metro Inc. in its acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares of A&P Canada from the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. for $1.7 billion;
• Davies acted for Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund in its acquisition of the Famous Players movie exhibition business of Viacom Inc. for a purchase price of $500 million;
Recognition
In Chambers Global 2007, six of our competition lawyers were specifically recognized for their experience and depth of knowledge. Clients commented on the group's "all round excellence" citing "the breadth of knowledge, the understanding of business realities and …their responsiveness to every request … - this is why we chose the firm". In 2006, the group was ranked by the Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory as a "most frequently recommended" firm and three of our lawyers were ranked as "most frequently recommended" or "consistently recommended" lawyers in competition law and competition litigation. Global Counsel 3000 recognized us as a "highly recommended firm" in 2005.
Organizational Leadership
Several members of our group have held senior positions with the Competition Bureau before joining the firm, among them a former head of the Bureau and Mergers Branch, or have been retained by the Bureau as special counsel on specific matters. Our lawyers also regularly meet with the Bureau on behalf of our clients and we are at the forefront of the private sector in respect of developments in competition legislation and policy.
Lawyers in the group hold leadership positions in the Canadian Bar Association's National Competition Law Section and in the Section of International Law and Practice of the American Bar Association. Group members have written extensively and appeared on panel presentations on Canadian competition issues in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. Members of the group edit two leading texts on competition law: Competition Law Service, an annotation of the Competition Act (Canada), and Competition Law of Canada, a loose-leaf text.
