John Leopold is a preeminent corporate lawyer who has been repeatedly recognized both nationally and internationally as one of Canada's elite practitioners in mergers and acquisitions and corporate law. John is ranked by Chambers Canada as a Band 1 leading lawyer in corporate/commercial where he is described as having an outstanding reputation with one of his clients calling him "one of the finest M&A and general business lawyers I have worked with" and with several market commentators describing him as "an incredible lawyer with good business sense". He was also named by The Best Lawyers in Canada (2019), based on peer review within the legal community, as Montréal Mergers and Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year. John has been recognized consistently by Who's Who Legal Canada and the International Who's Who of Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Governance with clients describing him as "absolutely terrific", "always my first port of call", "bringing real value to any deal" and attesting to his "outstanding caliber" and "all around technical excellence". John's standing in the private equity world was evidenced when he was named as one of the 30 Most Influential Private Equity Attorneys in the World by Private Equity International (the only Canadian to receive this honour).
J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC ("J.C. Flowers") and Värde Partners, Inc. ("Värde Partners") completed its sale of Fairstone Financial Holdings Inc. ("Fairstone" or "the Company") to Duo Bank of Canada, a Toronto-based financial services provider supported by Stephen Smith, Centerbridge Partners L.P. and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board
Cove Hill Partners, L.P. has acquired, through its portfolio company Kalkomey Enterprises, LLC, Campfire Collective, a leading technology platform in the outdoor recreation industry
On July 31, 2019, Oldcastle Building Products Canada, Inc. (Oldcastle) completed its acquisition of the operating assets of Abbotsford Concrete Products Ltd. (ACP) and its affiliates.
On December 17, 2018, Industrial Growth Partners (“IGP”), completed the recapitalization of the Redco Group of companies (“Redco”) in partnership with Redco’s management. The financial terms of the transaction were undisclosed.
On February 19, 2019, GTY Technology Holdings Inc. (“GTY”), a special purpose acquisition company traded on the NASDAQ and which was formed to consummate a business combination with established government technology companies, acquired Bonfire Interactive Ltd. (“Bonfire”), Questica Inc (“Questica”) and Questica USCDN Inc. (“Questica USCDN”)
On July 30, 2018, BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT) (BWXT), a leading supplier of nuclear components and services, completed the acquisition of the medical isotope business of Nordion (Canada) Inc. (Nordion) from private-equity owned Sotera Health LLC (Sotera Health).
On September 27, 2017, Novacap and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Caisse) completed an investment in Pivotal Payments (Pivotal), a Québec business that specializes in payment processing solutions and merchant services (the Transaction). The Transaction values Pivotal at approximately $525 million.
On January 31, 2018, Xylem Inc., a leading global water technology company, completed the acquisition of Pure Technologies Ltd. for $9.00 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of $509 million. The transaction, initially announced on December 11, 2017, was effected by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta).
On July 1, 2017, Semtech Corp. (Nasdaq: SMTC) (Semtech) a leading supplier of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding equity interests of AptoVision Technologies Inc. (AptoVision), a privately-held provider of uncompressed, zero-frame latency, Video over IP solutions addressing the Pro AV market.
On March 31, 2017, J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC (“J.C. Flowers”) and Värde Partners completed the acquisition of CitiFinancial Canada (now Fairstone Financial Inc. (“Fairstone”)) from an affiliate of Citigroup Inc. (“Citi”).
On August 17, 2016, BWXT Canada Ltd. (“BWXT Canada”), a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT), entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire all of the shares of the GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. (“GEH-C”) joint venture.
On September 23, 2016, Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) completed its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), creating the world’s largest hotel company. The US$13-billion merger combines Marriott brands, including Ritz-Carlton, Courtyard and Residence Inn, with W Hotels, Westin, Sheraton and other Starwood brands.
On September 16, 2016, Audax Private Equity (“Audax”), together with its co-investors and members of management of Laborie Medical Technologies (“Laborie”) completed the sale of Laborie to Patricia Industries, a subsidiary of Investor AB.
On October 7, 2016, SunOpta Inc., a Nasdaq- and TSX-listed global organic foods company, completed a cross-border PIPE transaction involving a private placement of US$85 million exchangeable preferred shares (Shares) to private equity funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.
On October 17, 2016, Vail Resorts, Inc. completed its $1.4-billion acquisition of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. by way of plan of arrangement for cash and share consideration.
On September 1, 2015, Acuity Brands, Inc. (Acuity), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. completed the acquisition of Distech Controls Inc. (Distech), a leading provider of building automation and energy management solutions. All of the outstanding capital stock of Distech was acquired for approximately $318 million.
On July 10, 2015, Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI), through its subsidiary Compass Group Diversified Holdings LLC (Compass), completed the acquisition of Fresh Hemp Foods Ltd., a Canadian manufacturer of hemp-based food products, operating under trade name Manitoba Harvest (Manitoba Harvest).
OMERS Private Equity (OPE), the private equity investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension funds completed the sale of Canadian healthcare IT company Logibec Inc. to US private equity firm GI Partners. Financing was provided by Macquarie Corporate and Asset Finance Lending. The acquisition price was undisclosed.
An affiliate of Mattamy Homes Ltd. acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Monarch Corporation, the Canadian operations of US homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home Corporation, for CAD$335 million at closing, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. Immediately prior to the closing, approximately C$235 million of cash at Monarch was distributed to a subsidiary of TMHC for total proceeds of C$570 million from the share sale. The transaction closed following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including clearance by the Canadian Competition Bureau.
News Corp., through its subsidiary HarperCollins Publishers, acquired Harlequin Enterprises Limited from Torstar Corporation for $455 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments.
Element Financial Corporation acquired the assets and operations of PHH Arval, PHH Corporation's North American fleet management services business, for a purchase price of US$1.4 billion in cash. Element also assumed PHH's obligations under the PHH fleet securitization programs in the US and Canada.
The Reynolds and Reynolds Company, which is listed on the NYSE, announced on August 4, 2000 that it has completed the sale of its Information Solutions Group, the company’s document outsourcing and customer relationship management business, to The Carlyle Group.
