Royal Bank and American Online

In July, the Royal Bank of Canada paid U. S. $60 million to acquire a substantial interest in internet access provider AOL Canada Inc. , the Canadian subsidiary of America Online Inc.. Royal Bank’s investment consists of a 10% interest in Class A Voting Shares, a 10% interest in Class B Non-Voting Shares (with an option to acquire additional Class A or Class B Shares or a debenture convertible into Class A or Class B Shares within a period of time after the closing of the transaction). Ogilvy Renault worked with the Royal Bank’s in-house counsel on the transaction. The Royal Bank team was comprised of Sarah Azzarello, Edward Rowan-Legg, Antonio Fratianni and Holly Shonaman. The Ogilvy Renault team was comprised of Simon Potter, Christine Carron, Jules Charette, James A. Riley and Marc Lacourcière. Goodman Phillips & Vineberg acted for AOL Canada Inc. and America Online Inc.. The GPV team consisted of Robert Vineberg, Sahir Guindi, and Justin Vineberg, all from the Montreal office, and Mark Surchin of the firm’s Toronto office.