Davies acted for The Pallinghurst Group, a private investor in the global natural resources sector, in its joint acquisition of Québec-based Nemaska Lithium Inc. with Investissement Québec (IQ) pursuant to a sales process under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

The acquisition was structured as a credit bid with Nemaska’s largest secured creditor, Orion Mine Finance, and achieved through a reverse vesting order granted by the Superior Court of Québec. Pursuant to the acquisition, Pallinghurst and IQ acquired, on a 50-50 basis, all of the issued and outstanding shares of an entity resulting from the amalgamation of Nemaska, its subsidiaries and entities controlled by Orion to form a new entity that will now operate the Nemaska lithium business.

Pallinghurst and IQ believe that the closing of the acquisition will allow Nemaska to progress with strong financial and operational backing, while preserving present and future employment and economic opportunities to the benefit of the local community, which includes the Cree Nation.

The cross-disciplinary team advising on this acquisition included Melanie Shishler, Jennifer Grossklaus, Joseph DiPonio and Adam Birnbaum (Corporate/M&A); Denis Ferland and Gabriel Lavery Lepage (Insolvency); Chris Anderson and Marc André Gaudreau Duval (Tax); Scott Hyman, Daniel Pearlman and Véronique Gaumond-Carignan (Financing); Jim Dinning (Competition); Olivier Désilets and Nir Servatka (Capital Markets); and Marie-Claude Bellemare and Sarah Powell (Environmental & Indigenous).