
Mergers & Acquisitions/Private Equity
- Overview
- Who To Contact
- Who We Help
- International Perspective
- Representative Matters
- Recent Developments
The Aird & Berlis Mergers & Acquisitions/Private Equity Group applies its Canadian expertise and global experience to every M&A/Private Equity transaction in which our firm is engaged. The knowledge of our legal professionals of what is occurring throughout the world provides a value added dimension to our services for both our domestic and international clients. We deliver a timely, responsive and efficient Canadian legal service that is tailored to the needs of each individual client based on its needs and objectives.
The M&A/PE Group uses an integrated approach to deliver exceptional service to our clients. More than 40 Aird & Berlis lawyers in at least 12 areas of Canadian law are active members of the M&A/PE Group. Within the firm, our experience extends considerably further than just acquisition work. We have highly regarded expert lawyers in all areas that are key to private equity, including tax structuring, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, funds, financing, financial services regulation and pensions as well as real estate, leasing and environmental concerns. We cover all types of private equity transactions: buy-outs, public-to-privates, portfolio management, recapitalisations and exits by sale to trade/financial buyers or by IPO. We have a strong acquisition and acquisition finance team, who have experience with many types of transactions, including ‘lock box’ purchase agreements as well as representation and warranty insurance.
As private equity transactions become increasingly cross–border, our independent status and domestic and multinational legal relationships ensure that we can recommend access to the most appropriate lawyers at firms with whom we have had experience.
Further, Aird & Berlis, being an independent Toronto-based law firm, is the gateway to Canada for our international clients. We act for international entities doing business in Canada and Canadian entities doing business abroad. We use our extensive network of Canadian law firms to provide comprehensive Canada-wide legal advice to all M&A and Private Equity participants.
Our M&A/PE Group is involved with numerous types of public and private mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, including:
- traditional stock and asset purchases, including auctions or privately-negotiated transactions
- share exchanges
- mergers, amalgamations and plans of arrangement
- going private transactions
- reorganizations, restructurings and workouts
- takeovers (friendly and hostile) and activism matters
- reverse takeovers
- leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and management buyouts (MBOs)
- fund formation and financing and regulatory compliance
- real estate funds and flow through vehicles
Contacts
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BioFull bio
Richard is a creative and results-driven corporate finance lawyer. Both domestically and internationally, Richard brings his business knowledge to th...
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BioFull bio
With extensive experience in a broad range of corporate finance and commercial matters, Jeffrey offers clients a practical and business-minded approac...
Group Members
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Partner and Chair, Student Recruitment Committee
Who We Help
Our commitment to all our clients is to provide sophisticated Canadian legal advice. We are also committed to learning all we can about our clients’ business objectives and to sustaining the client team so that our legal advice can be pragmatic and specifically tailored for that client.
We act for all participants in M&A and Private Equity transactions, including publicly-listed and privately-held buyers and sellers, investment bankers, special committees of boards of directors, management-led buyout groups, private equity funds, hedge funds, activist stakeholders, merchant banks, corporate lenders, arbitrageurs and institutional and other investors.
International Perspective
Aird & Berlis regularly acts alongside leading U.S. and international law firms as Canadian counsel, and has developed a particular expertise in cross-border transactions, often using tax-effective structures. We also act for non-Canadian participants in all aspects of Canadian M&A and/or Private Equity transactions, including publicly-listed and privately-held buyers and sellers, investment bankers, special committees of boards of directors, management-led buyout groups, private equity funds, hedge funds, activist stakeholders, merchant banks, corporate lenders, arbitrageurs and institutional and other investors.
Part of our commitment to professionalism and excellence includes our close relationship with leading M&A and/or private equity practitioners worldwide and with various regulatory bodies in Canada. Members of our firm are active with the relevant committees of the International Bar Association and attend and speak at IBA meetings and conferences. Members of the M&A/PE Group are also longstanding contributors to a number of studies published by the American Bar Association. As well, the M&A/PE Group has partners who are members of committees advising the Canadian regulators on proposed law, regulation and policy. Further we regularly attend the annual invitation-only securities practitioners’ conference with leading Canadian regulators and practitioners to participate in off-the-record discussions regarding future law, policy and regulation. Another methodology to keep current on law and M&A practice around the globe is the writing of bulletins of new applicable law and policy as well as the rankings earned by members of the M&A/PE Group.
Aird & Berlis has been providing Canadian legal services for a lengthy period of time in connection with transactions in many varied industries which have involved mergers and acquisition firms and/or private equity firms in Canada and worldwide. We have advised on private equity investments, strategic investments and exits from those investments through mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions, friendly, unfriendly and unsolicited. Our history has provided us with expertise, experience and knowledge of the expectations and desires of merger and acquisition participants and private equity participants in the Canadian transactional market. Our participation in the private equity market area has been expanding exponentially as the size of private equity entities has also been expanding.
Representative Matters
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Wynnchurch Capital Acquires Majority Ownership in FloWorks
On January 20, 2023, Wynnchurch Capital, L.P., a leading middle market private equity firm, acquired a majority ownership in FloWorks International, LLC from Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. FloWorks is ... -
The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. Closes Marketed Public Offering of Units
The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (CSE:TGOD), completed a marketed public offering 12,707,500 units of the company (“Units”), at a price of $0.40 per Unit. -
MediPharm Labs Corp. to Acquire VIVO Cannabis Inc.
MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSX:LABS) and VIVO Cannabis Inc. (TSX:VIVO), two global leaders in the medical wellness cannabis industry, entered into a definitive arrangement agreement whereby MediPharm will ... -
MMGY Global Completes Acquisition of Origin
MMGY Global, a leading travel and hospitality marketing firm, has acquired Origin, an outdoor-focused, digitally driven creative, content and branding agency. The firm, based in Whistler, B.C., will b... -
Enery Power Holding GmbH Acquires All Renewable Energy Operating Assets of Jade Power Trust in Romania
Enery Power Holding GmbH, an Austrian-based renewable energy company, acquired all the renewable energy operating assets of Jade Power Trust (TSXV:JPWR.UN) in Romania for €71 million ($98 million) on ... -
The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. Completes Acquisition of BZAM Holdings Inc.
The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TGOD), a sustainable Canadian cannabis company and producer of premium, organically grown cannabis, completed the acquisition of BZAM Holdings Inc., a private... -
Federated Capital Corp. and Fax Investments Inc. Acquire FAX Capital Corp. for $80.5 Million
Federated Capital Corp. and Fax Investments Inc., entities controlled by the Driscoll family, indirectly acquired all of the remaining outstanding subordinated voting shares of FAX Capital Corp. (TSX:... -
Brantford Power and Energy+ Merge to Form GrandBridge Energy
On May 2, 2022, Brantford Energy Corporation and Cambridge and North Dumfries Energy+ Inc. merged to form GrandBridge Corporation, the shareholder of GrandBridge Energy Inc., GrandBridge Group Inc., a... -
Harborside Inc. Completes Acquisition of Urbn Leaf
On March 1, 2022, Harborside Inc. (CSE: HBOR) (OTCQX: HBORF), a California-focused, vertically-integrated cannabis enterprise, completed the acquisition of UL Holdings Inc., a leading California canna... -
Signet Healthcare Partners Completes Growth Equity Investment in Juno Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Juno Pharmaceuticals Corp., a Canadian specialty generics pharmaceuticals company, announced that it had received a strategic growth investment from Signet Healthcare Partners, a New York-based health...
Recent Developments
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Firm News
Aird & Berlis Named One of Canada’s Best Law Firms 2023 by The Globe and Mail
Aird & Berlis is pleased to announce its inclusion in The Globe and Mail’s Canada’s Best Law Firms 2023 list. For a second year, The Globe and Mail's Report on Business magazine partnered with Statist... -
Article
Important Canadian Legal Considerations and Market Practices for U.S. and International Purchasers in Cross-Border Private M&A Transactions
In this article, we outline both analogous and Canadian-specific elements to be considered by U.S. and International purchasers and their advisers when considering private acquisitions of Canadian cor... -
Firm News
88 Aird & Berlis Lawyers Recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2023
Aird & Berlis is proud to announce that 88 members of the firm were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada. The firm is recognized across 43 practice ... -
Publication
Addressing Risk Allocation in M&A Transactions Through the Use of Transactional Insurance: A Primer on Representation and Warranty Insurance in the Canadian M&A Market
The natural tension between buyers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions has led to countless hours being spent allocating risk and consequences of various elements of that risk. Many ris... -
Firm News
Aird & Berlis Recognized in 2022 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
51 members of Aird & Berlis have been recognized in the 2022 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. -
Firm News
Introducing Our New Partners
Aird & Berlis is pleased to announce that Laura Dean, Ethan Eisen, Ajay Gajaria, Alicia McKeag, Danielle Muise, Saam Nainifard and Liam Tracey-Raymont have become partners of the firm. -
Firm News
84 Aird & Berlis Lawyers Recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2022
Aird & Berlis is proud to announce that 84 members of the firm were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada. The firm is recognized across 43 practice ... -
Article
The Return of the SPAC
This bulletin describes the anatomy of a special purpose acquisition company in a Canadian regulatory context. -
Firm News
Aird & Berlis Recognized in Chambers Canada 2021
Aird & Berlis is pleased to be recognized in the 2021 edition of Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business. -
Article
A Primer on Disclosure Standards and Requirements in the Canadian Mining Sector
This article is a primer on the NI 43-101 disclosure standards and the core elements that should be part of any Canadian public company’s mining project disclosure. -
Firm News
65 Aird & Berlis Lawyers Recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada 2021
The firm is featured across 39 practice areas and received 12 new listings. -
Article
Key Differences in Employment Law between Canada and the United States
We regularly advise American clients expanding their businesses to Canada. In this document, we outline key differences between employment law in Canada and the United States and discuss some of the m... -
Firm News
Aird & Berlis Lawyers Named in Lexpert Special Edition on Agribusiness and Cannabis
Aird & Berlis partners Jack Bernstein, Steven Graff, Donald Johnston, Martin Kovnats and Lorenzo Lisi are among the leading lawyers noted in the Lexpert Special Edition: Agribusiness and Cannabis 2020... -
Article
Practical Canadian M&A Advice During the COVID-19 Outbreak
This article focuses on some of the most critical components of, and well-known provisions in, typical Canadian M&A documentation that we have observed receiving additional consideration during the CO... -
Event
Current Challenges and Opportunities for M&A Activity in the Cannabis Industry
- 04:00 PMJoin our panel of esteemed legal professionals as they discuss mergers and acquisitions within the Canadian cannabis sector and provide you with insight on how to gain a competitive advantage while av... -
Event
Top Ten Legal Lessons Learned for Private, Owner-Manager and Family Businesses
- 10:00 AMJoin our panel of seasoned legal professionals as they provide insight on the best solutions for common problems faced by private businesses.