1000 De La Gauchetière St W, Suite MZ400, Montréal, QC
Year called to bar: 1998 (QC)
Christian Meighen is a partner in Montreal. His practice focuses on corporate tax and tax planning. Mr. Meighen advises on the tax aspects of mergers & acquisitions as well as domestic and international corporate reorganizations. He is also experienced in the tax aspects of restructuring of insolvent or financially distressed corporations. Mr. Meighen has acted for large Canadian and foreign corporations in matters relating to general corporate tax issues as well as mergers & acquisitions, both in the domestic and cross-border context. Mr. Meighen is listed in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a Most Frequently Recommended lawyer in Corporate Tax. Furthermore, he has also lectured at the HEC Montreal Law Faculty of Université de Montréal in the Master of Laws (Taxation) program since 2003. He is a frequent speaker on tax matters at conferences and seminars and has authored or co-authored articles and presentations for various organisations such as the Association de planification fiscale et financière (APFF) and the Canadian Tax Foundation. Mr. Meighen is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation, a member of the APFF, and a member of the Canadian Bar Association.
On June 6, 2018, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (Canaccord) completed the acquisition of Jitneytrade Inc. (Jitneytrade) and Finlogik Inc. (Finlogik) directly and through the purchase of Finlogik Capital Inc. (Finlogik Capital) This acquisition further strengthens Canaccord’s position as the leading independent trader in the country.
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
On October 27, 2017, Toromont Industries Ltd. (Toromont) completed the largest acquisition in its history — a $1.07-billion purchase of the businesses and net operating assets of the Hewitt Group of companies (Hewitt) in exchange for cash and shares of Toromont. This was a transformative transaction for Toromont, significantly expanding its Caterpillar dealership network and market opportunities.
On November 20, 2017, Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (Rayonier AM), a Florida-based leading global supplier of high purity cellulose, announced it had completed its friendly acquisition of Tembec Inc. (Tembec), a Québec forestry firm, for approximately US$962 million.
A group of investors led by the Dutil family (the Family Group) and composed of American Industrial Partners (AIP), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Fonds de solidarité FTQ (FSTQ and, collectively with the Family Group and CDPQ, the Rollover Shareholders) successfully completed the acquisition of Canam Group Inc. (Canam), a corporation involved in the design, manufacture and sale of construction products and services for the commercial, industrial, institutional, multi-residential and infrastructure construction industries, for approximately $875 million, including the assumption of existing indebtedness.
On May 26, 2017, Apax Partners (Apax), one of the world’s leading private equity investment groups, completed the sale of its remaining shares of the parent company (HCA Parent Corp.) of Garda World Security Corp. (Garda World) to Stephan Crétier, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Garda World, along with certain members of management and an entity held by investment funds affiliated with Rhône Capital (Rhone).
On December 11, 2015, BCE Inc. (BCE), Canada’s largest communications company, completed a bought deal common share offering for total aggregate gross proceeds of $862,838,100. BCE issued 15,111,000 common shares at a price of $57.10 per common share, including the 1,971,000 common shares issued as a result of the exercise in full of the over-allotment option granted to the syndicate of underwriters.
On February 11, 2016, Bombardier Inc. (Bombardier) closed the previously announced acquisition by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) of a US$1.5 billion convertible share investment in Bombardier Transportation’s newly-created holding company, Bombardier Transportation (Investment) UK Ltd. (BT Holdco), which, following the completion of the previously-announced corporate reorganization, owns all of the assets of Bombardier’s Transportation business segment.
On July 8, 2015, TPG Capital LP (TPG), a global private investment firm, acquired a majority stake in Cirque du Soleil (Cirque), Canada’s iconic entertainment company, for an undisclosed amount. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec along with Fosun Capital Group, one of China’s leading privately-owned investment groups, also acquired a minority stake in Cirque. In addition, Mitch Garber, Chair of the Cirque Board, Claridge, Stephen Bronfman’s family investment arm, and Cirque President and CEO Daniel Lamarre acquired ownership stakes.
DAVIDsTEA Inc. (the Company) completed its initial public offering in the United States of 3,414,261 common shares at a price per share of US$19.00, for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of approximately US$64.9 million (the Treasury Offering). On the same day and in connection with the Treasury Offering, certain existing shareholders of the Company also sold common shares on a secondary basis at a price per share of US$19.00, for aggregate gross proceeds to those selling shareholders of approximately US$46.6 million (together with the Treasury Offering, the Offering).
Publicis Groupe SA, a multinational company from France, acquired Nurun Inc, a Montreal-based provider of digital marketing services, for $125 million, from Québecor Média Inc.
Stornoway Diamond Corporation announced that it had closed its previously announced financing transactions with US private equity firm Orion Mine Finance, Investissement Québec (through its wholly owned subsidiaries Diaquem Inc. and Resources Québec) (“RQ”), and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to fund the construction of the Renard Diamond Project, Quebec’s first diamond mine.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Amaya Gaming Group Inc. completed its acquisition of 100 per cent of the issued and outstanding shares of privately held Oldford Group Limited, the parent company of Isle of Man-headquartered Rational Group Ltd., the owner and operator of the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands, in an all-cash transaction for an aggregate purchase price of US$4.9 billion, including certain deferred payments and subject to customary purchase price adjustments.
