Steven Harris is a partner and practises in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities, and corporate/commercial law. He has broad experience in advising issuers, boards of directors and other parties on structuring and negotiating significant transactions as well as advising issuers and dissident shareholders in connection with proxy contests and contested shareholder meetings.
Steven acted for Pershing Square Capital Management L.P., Knott Partners Management, LLC and Hawkeye Capital Management, LLC in their opposition, through litigation and a related proxy fight, to Sears Holdings Corp.'s insider take-over bid for Sears Canada Inc. He also advised the board of directors of Jaguar Nickel Inc. in connection with a dissident shareholder proxy fight and led the legal team that acted for Scion Capital LLC in its dissident proxy fight and related litigation in opposition to Gold Fields Limited's US$360 million acquisition of Bolivar Gold Corp. He has also acted for Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited in its $710 million acquisition of Cumberland Resources Ltd., TrizecCanada Inc. in the US$8.9 billion acquisition of TrizecCanada Inc. and Trizec Properties, Inc. by Brookfield Properties Corporation, Controladora Mabe S.A. de C.V. in its $70 million acquisition of Camco Inc., SS&C Technologies, Inc. in its $207 million acquisition of Financial Models Company Inc., and United Industries in its $192 million acquisition of The New-Gro Corporation. Other past transactions include the $3.48 billion arrangement of TrizecHahn Corporation into Trizec Properties, Inc. and Trizec Canada Inc., the $85 billion "spin-off" by BCE Inc. of its interest in Nortel Networks Corporation, the $3 billion bid on the privatization of the Highway 407 toll road led by Scotia Capital Inc. and Macquarie North America Ltd. and the $1.2 billion cross-border take-over bid by Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. for Midland Walwyn Inc.
Steven has also been involved in a number of major financings and other transactions including representing the Ontario Strategic Infrastructure Financing Authority on its $650 million inaugural offering of Infrastructure Renewal Bonds, Nesbitt Burns Inc., as underwriter for 407 International Inc., in four public and private cross-border financings for $2.3 billion, Ontario School Boards Financing Corporation in two public offerings for over $545 million, RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust in the formation of the $200 million RioCan Retail Value L.P. real estate investment partnership and CIBC Capital Partners in the formation of the $45 million CanFirst Industrial Realty Fund L.P. real estate investment partnership.
Steven received a B.A. in Commerce and Economics from the University of Toronto in 1992 and an LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario in 1995.
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