199 Bay St, Suite 4000, Commerce Court West, Toronto, ON
Year called to bar: 2000 (ON)
David is the Practice Group Leader of Blakes Corporate group in Toronto. David's practice focuses primarily on mergers & acquisitions, private equity and corporate law. David provides strategic advice on many of Canada's largest and most complex asset and share transactions. He has over 25 years of experience advising clients on complex regulated transactions. David also regularly advises foreign companies on establishing and structuring their Canadian operations. Recent transactions include advising The Walter Group on the acquisition of assets and formation of the new Professional Women’s Hockey Leage, Citation Group (a portfolio company of HG Capital and KKR) on the acquisition of HR Downloads, Knix on sale of an 80% interest to Essity for US$320, Simpson Oil on the sale of 25% of SOL Investments for common shares in Parkland Fuel, valued at approximately $700-million, Cox Automotive on its sale of the Canadian operations of Dealertrack, VinSolutions, Dealer.com, Xtime and Kelley Blue Book to Trader Corp., Dell Technologies on its US$4-billion sale of Boomi, MCAP on its acquisition of Paradigm Quest creating Canada's largest non-bank lender, Litera on its acquisition of Kira Systems and Nasdaq on its US$2.75-billion acquisition of Verafin.
On November 30, 2018, Essar Steel Algoma Inc. (“ESAI”) concluded its comprehensive restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act by way of the sale of substantially all of its assets to Algoma Steel Inc. (“ASI”).
On May 4, 2018, Frontier Capital completed the acquisition of Agreement Express Inc. and its subsidiary corporations (AEX) through a plan of arrangement. The investment was made through Frontier Capital’s US$700 million Frontier Fund V
On December 29, 2017, Mr. Don E. Wall (Don Wall), PHI Inc. (PHI) and HNZ Group Inc. (HNZ), a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed provider of helicopter transportation and related support services, completed a statutory plan of arrangement pursuant to which, among other things, Don Wall, through a beneficially wholly-owned acquisition company, acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares and variable voting shares of HNZ for $18.70 in cash per share, and PHI subsequently acquired HNZ’s offshore business conducted in New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. The total consideration paid to former holders of HNZ shares was approximately $233 million
HollyFrontier Corporation (HFC) announced the completion of the acquisition of Suncor Energy’s Petro-Canada Lubricants business (PCLI) for $1.125 billion. The transaction closed on February 1, 2017.
On October 21, 2016, McKeil Marine (“McKeil”) and TorQuest Partners (“TorQuest”) finalized TorQuest’s investment in McKeil, in partnership with existing management and shareholders, to support the company’s next phase of growth. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Johnson Electric Holdings Limited, a global leader in electric motors and motion subsystems, announced on October 27, 2015, that it had completed the acquisition of Stackpole International, a leading supplier of engine and transmission pumps and powder metal components, primarily for automotive applications.
On July 10, 2015, Holcim Ltd and Lafarge S.A. completed their global merger and launched LafargeHolcim, a world leader in the building materials industry. The new LafargeHolcim shares will be traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange as well as the Euronext in Paris. In April 2014 both companies had announced their intention to merge. All relevant anti-trust approvals were received within the expected timeframe following a proactive dialogue with the respective authorities in Canada and elsewhere.
Parkland Fuel Corporation, one of North America’s fastest growing distributors and marketers of fuel and lubricants, completed its acquisition of the assets of fellow retail fuel marketer, Pioneer Energy LP on June 25, 2015.
