Davies

Richard D. Elliott

Richard Elliott is a partner in the Competition & Foreign Investment Review practice. He specializes in advising Canadian and foreign-based clients on all aspects of Canadian competition law, including mergers, abuse of dominance and cartels, as well as on the application of the Investment Canada Act.

From 2001 to 2004, Richard worked in Washington, D.C., at a leading U.S. and European law firm, where he assisted in advising on a variety of U.S. and European competition law matters. From 1991 to 2001, Richard served as an enforcement official at Canada's Competition Bureau, where he was responsible for conducting or overseeing more than a hundred merger reviews, as well as playing a key role in several merger and non-merger cases before the Competition Tribunal.

Representative Work

  • Acted as Canadian counsel for Fiat S.p.A. in the purchase of substantially all of Chrysler LLC's operations by a new company formed in alliance with Fiat for approximately US$2 billion in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities under a U.S. restructuring (Chapter 11) and in the related approximately US$7 billion first lien credit facility provided by the United States Department of the Treasury and the approximately $2 billion working capital facility provided by Export Development Canada.

  • Acted for Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition Inc. and The Energy and Minerals Group in takeover bid proceedings at the Ontario Securities Commission in connection with an unsolicited takeover bid for Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation, and its subsequent successful joint bid with ArcelorMittal, in a transaction valued at $590 million.

  • Acted for Postmedia Network Inc. in the acquisition of the publishing business of Canwest LP under a sale proceeding conducted pursuant to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. The assets included the largest publisher of English-language newspapers in Canada as well as an extensive portfolio of digital media and online assets. The aggregate enterprise value of the assets was estimated to be $1.1 billion. Also acted throughout the CCAA proceedings for an Ad Hoc Committee of Noteholders, comprised of 18 investment funds, which held the majority of Canwest LP's outstanding indebtedness and which provided a $250-million equity commitment to permit the acquisition.

  • Acted as Canadian counsel to Terra Industries Inc. on Canadian regulatory matters in connection with CF Industries' US$4.7-billion acquisition of Terra, as well as in connection with the proposed US$4.1-billion acquisition by Yara International ASA of Terra and the proposed acquisition by Terra from Agrium Inc. of a 50% interest in Agrium's Carseland, Alberta nitrogen facility.

  • Acted for Hydro-Québec in connection with its $4.75-billion proposed acquisition of substantially all of the assets of New Brunswick Power and that of its affiliates, including hydroelectric, combustion and nuclear facilities.

  • Acted as Canadian counsel to Mars, Incorporated in connection with Mars' US$23-billion acquisition of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.

  • Acted for PVH Corp. on Canadian regulatory matters in connection with its acquisition of The Warnaco Group, Inc. in a transaction valuing Warnaco at approximately US$2.9 billion.

  • Acting for Apollo Global Management with respect to Canadian regulatory matters in connection with the proposed $2.5 billion acquisition of McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.'s education division.

  • Acted as Canadian counsel for Najafi Companies in its acquisition of C International Income Fund (formerly Cinram International Income Fund). The transaction was implemented as a sale proceeding under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (with recognition proceedings commenced under Chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code).

  • Acted for Western Digital Corporation on Canadian regulatory matters regarding its acquisition of Viviti Technologies Ltd. (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies) for US$3.9 billion in cash and 25 million shares of WDC common stock valued at approximately US$0.9 billion.

  • Acted for AMC Entertainment Inc. in its divestiture of Canadian theatres to Cineplex Inc. and Empire Theatres Limited.

  • Acted as Canadian counsel to AMC Entertainment Inc. in the US$2.6-billion acquisition of AMC by Beijing-based Dalian Wanda Group Co.

  • Acted for KGHM Polska Miedz S.A., one of Poland's leading companies and Europe's largest copper miner, in its $2.87-billion acquisition of Quadra FNX Mining Ltd.  At the time of closing, this was the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Polish company.

  • Acted for Brambles Limited, the world's leading provider of pallet and container pooling solutions, in its acquisition of Paramount Pallet.

  • Acted for HMV Group plc, a specialist retailer of entertainment and books, in connection with the sale of its Canadian business to Hilco UK Ltd.

  • Acted for AMB Property Corporation in its merger with ProLogis to create Prologis, Inc., a leading global owner, operator and developer of industrial real estate.

  • Acted for Fiat S.p.A. on Canadian regulatory matters in connection with its acquisition of a majority of the equity of Chrysler Group LLC.

  • Acted for Wal-Mart Canada Corp. in connection with the acquisition of leases for 39 store locations occupied by Zellers from Target Canada.

  • Acted for EdgeStone Capital Partners in connection with the US$415 million sale of Continental Alloys & Services, Inc. to Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.

  • Acted for MHR Fund Management LLC in connection with its US$77-million acquisition of common shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. from Carl Icahn.

  • Acted as counsel for OneSteel Limited on Canadian Competition Act matters in connection with its US$932-million acquisition of the Moly-Cop and AltaSteel businesses from Anglo American Plc.

  • Acted for Xstrata Canada Corporation in its proposed acquisition of Noranda Income Fund.

  • Acted as Canadian counsel for Time Inc. in its acquisition of QSP, Inc., in the United States, and Quality Service Products Inc., in Canada, from The Readers Digest Association Inc. in a transaction valued at US$110 million.

  • Acted as Canadian counsel to NBTY Inc. in connection with its successful bid, valued at US$371 million plus the assumption of certain liabilities, in the auction to acquire Leiner Health Products, a private label manufacturer of non-prescription drugs and supplements, held in connection with Leiner's U.S. bankruptcy proceedings.

  • Acted as Canadian counsel to BHP Billiton in its unsolicited offer to acquire Rio Tinto in a share exchange deal valued at US$147 billion.

  • Acted for private equity fund EdgeStone Capital Equity Fund III, L.P. in its acquisition and subsequent divestiture of an equity interest in Motion Picture Distribution LP, the former motion picture distribution arm of Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc.

  • Acted for Osprey Media Income Fund in its auction process and the resulting negotiated all-cash takeover bid for Osprey by Quebecor Media Inc., including successfully defending Osprey against litigation initiated by Quebecor to challenge Black Press Ltd.'s superior proposal that was eventually matched by Quebecor in a transaction valued at $578 million.

  • Acted for Xstrata plc in its $6.2 billion all-cash friendly takeover bid to acquire LionOre Mining International. Following two interloper bids by MMC Norilsk Nickel, Xstrata received the largest percentage break fee (5%) in any Canadian deal valued at over $1 billion.

View All

PUBLICATIONS

Return To Profile

Recognition

Return To Profile

  • Recognized by The Best Lawyers in Canada in the area of Competition/Antitrust Law.
  • Listed in Expert Guides' Guide to the World's Leading Competition Lawyers.
  • Recognized as a leading business law practitioner in the area of Competition by Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers and Who's Who Legal: Canada.
  • Recognized in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the areas of Competition/Antitrust and Competition/Antitrust: Investment Canada.
  • Recommended by PLCWhich lawyer? in the area of Competition/Antitrust Law.

Professional Affiliations

Return To Profile

Canadian Bar Association

American Bar Association

New York State Bar Association

CFA Institute

Toronto CFA Society

Board Memberships

Return To Profile

  • Chair, 2010 Canadian Bar Association Competition Law Fall Conference
  • Past Chair (2007-2009), Economics Committee, Canadian Bar Association, National Competition Law Section

Community Involvement

Return To Profile

Teaching Engagements

Return To Profile

Richard has taught competition law at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and international trade law at the Université de Moncton, New Brunswick.

Speaking Engagements

Return To Profile

Richard is a frequent speaker at competition law conferences and events, including on:

  • "Resale Price Maintenance Following Leegan: US and Canadian Perspectives", American Bar Association and Canadian Bar Association brown bag teleconference (May 16, 2011);
  • "Network Industries and Canadian Competition Law", Canadian Bar Association 2011 Competition Law Spring Forum, Toronto (May 3, 2011);
  • "Canada's New Per Se Criminal Cartel Provision: Lessons from the U.S. Experience", American Bar Association and Canadian Bar Association brown bag teleconference (May 27, 2010);
  • "In The Eye Of The Storm: Navigating Regulatory Hurdles For Distressed Transactions", American Bar Association brown bag teleconference (December 16, 2009);
  • "Merger Review: Does the Recession Make a Difference", Canadian Bar Association 2009 Competition Law Spring Forum, Toronto (May 12, 2009);
  • "Merger Review in Regulated Industries", Canadian Bar Association 2008 Annual Fall Competition Law Conference, Gatineau, Quebec (September 19, 2008);
  • "The Regulatory Front: Antitrust and Foreign Investment Tactics and Pitfalls", 2nd Annual US/Canadian Cross-Border M&A Forum, New York (April 26, 2007); and
  • "Competition Reviews in Hostile Takeovers", 5th Annual Merger Conference of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London (November 24,in 2006).

Articles and Publications

Return To Profile

Richard is the author of several articles in the competition law field, including "Failing Firm Analysis in Canadian Merger Review", from the proceedings of the Canadian Bar Association’s 2009 Competition Law Spring Forum; "The Evolving Role of Competition Act Merger Review in the Transport and Broadcasting Sectors in Canada", from the proceedings of the Canadian Bar Association’s 2008 Annual Fall Conference on Competition Law; "Canada: Joint Ventures" (co-authored with M. Katz and C. Margison) in 2009 Antitrust Review of the Americas, Global Competition Review Special Report; and "Cartel Enforcement in Canada: What Asian Companies Should Know" (co-authored with M. Katz and E. Kearney) in The Asia-Pacific Antitrust Review 2008, a Global Competition Review Special Report.

Richard Elliott
Richard Elliott
Partner
Office:
Toronto
Tel:
416.863.5506
Email:
relliott@dwpv.com
Bar Admissions:

New York, 2003

Ontario, 1992

Education:

Chartered Financial Analyst Designation, 1998

Oxford University, B.C.L., 1991

Osgoode Hall, LL.B., 1989