Osisko Gold Royalties acquires Virginia Mines

On February 17, 2015, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (Osisko) acquired Virginia Mines Inc. (Virginia) for approximately $461 million, pursuant to a plan of arrangement.

The consideration received by shareholders of Virginia consisted of an aggregate of 29,964,240 shares of Osisko, which entitled each former shareholder of Virginia to receive 0.92 of a share of Osisko for each share of Virginia held.

As a result of the transaction, Osisko immediately became an intermediate gold royalty and exploration company with two world-class royalties on producing gold mines in Quebec, Canada, one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions, as well as exploration stage assets.

Bennett Jones LLP represented Osisko in the transaction with support of in-house counsel André Le Bel, with a team led by Sander Grieve, Linda Misetich Dann and John Sabine (mining, M&A and securities) that included Ian Goldberg, Jeffrey Kerbel, Jamie Au, Andrew Disipio and Ian Minz (mining, M&A and securities); Thomas Bauer, Martin Sorenson, Philip Ward and Andrew Sullivan (tax); and Randal Hughes and Adam Kalbfleisch (competition).

Marc Pothier of XploraMines S.A and McCarthy Tétrault LLP jointly represented Virginia in the transaction, with a team led by Philippe Leclerc (M&A and securities) that included Max Rogan and Myreille Gilbert (M&A and securities); François Amyot  (contract matters) Annie Mailhot-Gamelin and Christian Meighen (tax);  Dominic Thérien (competition) and Jean Lortie (litigation).

Lavery, de Billy L.L.P. represented Osisko in Quebec in the transaction, with a team led by René Branchaud and Josianne Beaudry (securities).

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP represented Osisko in the United States in the transaction, with a team led by Christopher Morgan (corporate) and Jared Binstock (tax).

Burns & Levinson LLP represented Virginia in United States securities matters in the transaction, with a team led by Andrew Merken (securities) and Roy Gillig (tax).