Rita Lc de Santis is a partner in the Corporate/Commercial, Commercial Real Estate, Corporate Finance & Securities and Public-Private Partnerships practices. She specializes in international law, mergers and acquisitions, real estate law and project financing.

Rita has assisted companies and government and quasi-government entities in projects as varied as setting up telecom joint ventures in China, investing in real estate in Poland, acquiring newspapers in Canada and financings in the United States. She has also accompanied clients on trade missions to Africa and advised the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank with respect to the development of a mortgage facilities system in Palestine, a project which involved the Palestinian government authorities.

Representative Work

• Acted for CDP Financial Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, in connection with an offering of US$5 billion of senior notes in the United States. This offering is the largest non-government guaranteed offering by any Canadian issuer in US dollars to date.
• Represented Amcor Limited of Australia when it purchased an international packaging business from Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. operating in 31 countries; when it purchased an international plastic containers (PET) and closures business involving 58 subsidiaries in 26 countries from Schmalbach-Lubeca AG of Germany; and when it purchased the healthcare flexible packaging operations of Rexam Plc of London, England.
• Participated in the acquisitions of shopping centres and development land in the Province of Québec by First Capital Realty Inc.
• Represented Alimentation Couche-Tard in the joint venture between Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. and Irving Oil relating to the conversion of Irving Marché Mainway Stores in Québec to the Couche-Tard banner.
• Represented CDP Financial Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, in CDP’s offering of $750 million of medium term notes.
• Acted for a US-based private equity firm and two major Canadian pension funds in the acquisition, management and sale of a portfolio of tier one hotel and resort properties in North America.
• Represented Gesca Ltée in its acquisition of French-language newspapers from Hollinger Canadian Newspapers, Limited Partnership.

Recognition

• Named by the Women's Executive Network as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 for 2009.
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada in project finance law.
• Recognized in the Canadian Legal LEXPERT® Directory as a lawyer whose services are repeatedly recommended in the areas of property development and corporate mid-market.
• Achieved one of Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rankings.

Speaking Engagements

Rita has presented papers in both French and English at various conferences, including, in 2010, on the subject of women’s access to board of directors (“How to Get in the Chair”) at a workshop organized by the Montreal Bar Association, and on the subject of choice of law and resolution of conflicts (“Choisir la loi la plus favorable en tenant compte de vos options en matière de règlement de différends et savoir se sortir de situations conflictuelles”) at The Canadian Institute; in 2008, on the subject of project finance at the Québec PPP and Infrastructure Finance Forum (Interactive Round Table Session) in Montréal; in 2006, on the topic of "Financement disponible pour les partenariats public-privé" at an Insight Conference in Montréal; in 2005, on "Setting up Business Abroad: Let Us Go China", as part of the Isaac Pitblado lectures in Winnipeg; and in February and June 2005, on the topic of "Distinction entre les partenariats public-privé et les autres approches contractuelles du secteur public" at The Canadian Institute Conferences in Montréal.

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