199 Bay St, Suite 5300, Commerce Court West, Toronto, ON
Year called to bar: 1994 (ON)
Mario Paura is head of the Toronto office’s real estate group and co-head of the national real estate group. He is an active member of the mergers and acquisitions group, co-leader of the retail group, and a member of the firm’s management committee. He has over 25 years of experience focused primarily in the areas of commercial real estate, financing, M&A, and commercial leasing. His diverse and sophisticated real estate practice includes all aspects involving the purchase, sale, financing, and development of asset classes including retail and commercial, industrial and office, multi-residential, hospitality and entertainment properties, and REITs. In his banking practice, he has acted for both borrowers and lenders in domestic and international, secured and unsecured financings. In connection with his mergers and acquisitions practice, he regularly represents a variety of clients with portfolios that span North America in all aspects of real estate investment. He effectively provides clients with customized and practical advice on purchases and divestitures of businesses by way of share and asset purchases, partnerships, and joint ventures. Clients rely on his significant experience to help them maximize value and increase management efficiency.
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 July 13, 2017, Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. (CKP) completed the acquisition of Reliance Home Comfort (Reliance) from investment funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners (Alinda), for an equity purchase price of approximately $2.82 billion.
On July 6, 2017, Logistec Corporation (Logistec), a marine and environmental services provider, completed the acquisition of 51 per cent of all of the issued and outstanding voting shares of Fer-Pal Construction Ltd. (Fer-Pal). The purchase price comprised of a cash payment of $41.5 million and the issuance of 230,747 Class B subordinate voting shares in the share capital of Logistec.
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 June 1, 2016, pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger dated January 18, 2016, (the “Merger Agreement”) between Waste Connections, Inc. (formerly known as Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (“Progressive Waste”)), Water Merger Sub LLC (“Merger Sub”) and Waste Connections US, Inc. (formerly known as Waste Connections, Inc.) (“Old Waste Connections”), Merger Sub merged with and into Old Waste Connections (the “Merger”), with Old Waste Connections surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Progressive Waste.
On May 20, 2016, Lowe’s Companies Inc. (Lowe’s) completed its friendly acquisition of Rona Inc. (Rona) by way of a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Québec) for $3.2 billion.
On October 9, 2015, Swander Pace Capital, a leading private equity firm specializing in investments in consumer product companies, completed the acquisition of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of Voortman Cookies.
Centerra Gold Inc. (Centerra) and Premier Gold Mines Limited (Premier) entered into a 50/50 limited partnership for the joint exploration and development of Premier’s Trans-Canada Property in Northern Ontario. Under the terms of the joint venture agreements, Centerra will contribute up to $300 million in cash to the limited partnership in consideration for its 50 per cent interest in the limited partnership, while Premier will contribute all property, assets and rights it holds in respect of the Trans-Canada Property to the limited partnership in consideration for its 50 per cent interest in the limited partnership.
On February 27, 2015, Calgary-based Newalta Corporation (Newalta) completed the sale of its Industrial Division to Revolution Acquisition LP (Revolution), a subsidiary of Toronto-based Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. (Birch Hill), for cash proceeds of $300 million. The Industrial Division is comprised of several business streams including major facilities and assets located across Canada. The sale creates a new stand-alone company, Terrapure Environmental, which has its headquarters in Burlington, Ontario.
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.
The current owners of Canada's largest off-airport and only national car park company, Park'N Fly, completed the sale of their parking business assets, including all real estate used in connection with the business located in Montreal; Ottawa; Toronto; Edmonton and Vancouver, along with goodwill and other operating assets, to a joint venture led by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, both companies whose shares are traded on the stock exchange of Hong Kong, each owning a 50 per cent interest.
News Corp., through its subsidiary HarperCollins Publishers, acquired Harlequin Enterprises Limited from Torstar Corporation for $455 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments.
