Our Practice
Our activities in the private equity area have grown out of our leading mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and general corporate transaction practices and we have a long history of involvement in major private equity transactions.  In fact, we were representing various parties in private equity transactions long before the "private equity" label was attached to this area.

We have been involved in the formation of many of Canada's largest buyout, venture capital, mezzanine and hedge funds.  We have also acted as counsel to fund sponsors and investors in connection with many specialized funds, including those focusing on distressed companies, secondary interests, other private equity funds (funds of funds), telecommunications, media, infrastructure and real estate. 

We also have extensive experience in the structuring of the internal arrangements of private equity firms, including carried interest plans and employee co-investment funds.

Our Work
We have recently acted as counsel to the indicated party in connection with the following selected private equity matters:

• Ironbridge Equity Partners Inc. in the establishment of Ironbridge Equity Partners I, LP, a private equity fund with a focus on investing in mid-sized companies with enterprise values between $20 and $100 million;

• Riverstone Holdings announced its plans to join Blackstone Energy Inc. to convert an existing starch production facility in Collingwood, Ontario, into a 15 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant;

• Formation of Birch Hill Equity Partners III, LP, a private equity fund with a focus on investing in middle market companies located principally in Canada.  Birch Hill Equity Partners is the firm formed by the former principals of TD Capital Canadian Private Equity Partners, the private equity arm of TD Capital Group Limited.  In its first two closings, Birch Hill Equity Partners III, LP received capital commitments of approximately $800 million  from Canadian, U.S. and offshore investors;

• Yellow Pages Group (YPG) through Yellow Pages Income Fund acquired Advertising Directory Solutions Inc. (ADS), Canada’s second largest directory publisher. YPG purchased the business from an affiliate of Bain Capital for a purchase price of approximately $2.55 billion payable with cash at closing, subject to a deduction for indebtedness. The ADS operating company has been renamed Yellow Pages Inc./Pages Jaunes Inc.;

• Saunders Karp & Megrue ("SKM") acquired Comark Inc., a leading Canadian mall-based apparel retailer operating 303 stores.  SKM is a private equity firm engaged in the acquisition and ownership of operating businesses. Comark is SKM's 18th platform investment in the retail industry;

• Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, acquired the equity and a significant portion of the debt of CFM Corporation, a leading integrated manufacturer of hearth and space heating products, barbecue and outdoor products in North America and the United Kingdom, in a transaction having a value of approximately US$230 million;

• Affiliates of Bain Capital, a global private investment firm, purchased Verizon Communications Inc.'s directory operations in Canada for $1.985 billion.  The directory operation, SuperPages Canada, is Canada's second-largest directories publisher and is the official TELUS directory publisher in Western Canada. Online directory operations were also included in the transaction;

• Dollarama L.P. acquired a majority position in the Dollarama business of Montréal-based S. Rossy Inc. and Dollar A.M.A. Inc., with the founders and management retaining a substantial stake. Dollarama is the largest dollar store network in Canada with over 340 stores in six provinces. Bain Capital and the management group provided the equity to finance the acquisition.

Recognition
Several lawyers of our private equity practice are recognized as leading practitioners in their field by the 2006 International Who's Who of Private Fund Lawyers, the 2005 IFLR Legal Media Group's Expert Guide to the World's Leading Private Equity Lawyers, the 2006 Global Counsel's Private Equity Handbook and the 2006 PLC Which Lawyer?'s Yearbook for Private Equity and Venture Capital Lawyers.