Following receipt of approval from the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Rakuten, Inc., a Japanese public company (JASDAQ: 4755) and one of the world's top three e-commerce companies, completed the acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares of Kobo Inc. for an aggregate purchase price of US$315 million in cash. Kobo, the manufacturer of the Kobo e-readers and distributor of e-books, was founded by Indigo Books & Music Inc. (IDG: TSX) and is a global e-reading service with a catalogue of more than 2.5 million e-books, magazines and newspapers.
Miller Thomson LLP represented Rakuten Inc. with a team that included Beryl Green, Steve Wesfield, Jason Rosen and Steven Oh (M&A); Robert Stewart (securities); Sean Rimoin (financing); Lyne Gaulin (tax); Lisa Goodfellow (employment); Andrew Roman (foreign investment and competition); Eugene Gierczak, Fraser Mann and Tai Nahm (intellectual property and information technology) and Joseph Marin (insolvency).
Indigo Books & Music was represented by its General Counsel, Kathleen Flynn and by Torys LLP with a team that included Guy Berman, Jamie Becker, Christine Hunter (corporate), Rob Prichard, Omar Wakil, Damien Liddle (regulatory), Mitch Fraser (employment), Amanda Balasubramanian, Simon Williams (lending) and John Unger (tax).
Kobo was represented by its General Counsel, Nicholas Catros and by McCarthy Tétrault LLP with a team that included George Takach (M&A, IP and IT); D.J. Lynde (corporate); James Gannon, Ryan Prescott (IP and IT); Bram Abramson (IT and foreign investment); Oliver Borgers, Michele Siu (foreign investment and competition) and Patrick McCay (tax).
Miller Thomson LLP represented Rakuten Inc. with a team that included Beryl Green, Steve Wesfield, Jason Rosen and Steven Oh (M&A); Robert Stewart (securities); Sean Rimoin (financing); Lyne Gaulin (tax); Lisa Goodfellow (employment); Andrew Roman (foreign investment and competition); Eugene Gierczak, Fraser Mann and Tai Nahm (intellectual property and information technology) and Joseph Marin (insolvency).
Indigo Books & Music was represented by its General Counsel, Kathleen Flynn and by Torys LLP with a team that included Guy Berman, Jamie Becker, Christine Hunter (corporate), Rob Prichard, Omar Wakil, Damien Liddle (regulatory), Mitch Fraser (employment), Amanda Balasubramanian, Simon Williams (lending) and John Unger (tax).
Kobo was represented by its General Counsel, Nicholas Catros and by McCarthy Tétrault LLP with a team that included George Takach (M&A, IP and IT); D.J. Lynde (corporate); James Gannon, Ryan Prescott (IP and IT); Bram Abramson (IT and foreign investment); Oliver Borgers, Michele Siu (foreign investment and competition) and Patrick McCay (tax).
Lawyer(s)
John Unger
Steven L. Wesfield
Bram Abramson
Jamie Becker
Tai Woo Nahm
Kathleen M. Flynn
Michele Siu
Joseph Marin
Nicolas Catros
Ryan Prescott
Andrew J. Roman
George S. Takach
Mitch Frazer
Eugene J. A. Gierczak
J. Robert S. Prichard
Patrick J. McCay
Guy Berman
Lyne Gaulin
Beryl B. Green
Simon J.C. Williams
Oliver J. Borgers
Damien Liddle
Omar K. Wakil
James Gannon
Amanda C. Balasubramanian
Lisa S. Goodfellow
Sean Rimoin
Robert M. Stewart
Steven Oh
Christine Hunter
Jason Rosen