79 Wellington St W, Suite 3000, Box 270, TD Ctr, Toronto, ON
Year called to bar: 1999 (ON)
John has a broad range of experience in complex M&A, transactional, securities, private equity, regulatory, governance, activism and compliance matters. With an international range of clients, John represents domestic and foreign acquirors, private equity sponsors, targets, special committees, boards of directors and investment banks in all aspects of M&A (both public and private), including hostile takeover bids, strategic review processes, proxy contests, going-private transactions, private equity transactions and negotiated acquisitions. John regularly advises companies, directors and shareholders on corporate governance, crisis management, activism, compliance and other critical situations. He also has extensive experience in corporate finance transactions, representing issuers, underwriters and investors in domestic and international debt and equity public offerings and private placements.
On Apr. 16, 2020, Riot Games, the game developer and publisher best known for League of Legends, announced the completion of its acquisition of Hypixel Studios
Blackstone Property Partners and Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc., a subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, completed their all-cash acquisition of Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (PIRET) for $8.10 per unit in a transaction valued at $3.8 billion including debt. Affiliates of Blackstone Property Partners and Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. acquired 62% and 38% of PIRET, respectively.
On March 23, 2018, Aphria Inc. (Aphria)(TSX: APH and US OTC: APHQF) completed its acquisition of Nuuvera Inc. (Nuuvera) pursuant to a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) for approximately $425 million.
On March 28, 2018, Platinum Equity Capital Partners IV (Platinum Equity) completed the acquisition of Husky Injection Molding Systems (Husky) from Berkshire Partners and OMERS Private Equity for $4.95 billion (US$3.85 billion). Based in Bolton, Ont., Husky is a global supplier of highly engineered injection molding equipment and services for the plastic injection molding equipment industry, and a leading provider of PET systems, hot runners, aftermarket tooling, medical molds and specialty closure molds.
On July 17, 2017, Norgine B.V., a European specialist pharmaceutical company, acquired all issued and outstanding shares of Merus Labs International Inc. (Merus), pursuant to a plan of arrangement for $1.65 per common share in cash, including the assumption of all debt obligations, for a total enterprise value of approximately $342 million.
On May 25, 2017, Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. completed its statutory plan of arrangement whereby all its shares were acquired by a corporation, 2517835 Ontario Inc., owned by Slaight Communications Inc., Obelysk Media Inc. and Sirius XM Radio Inc. Sirius XM Canada Holdings also announced that it will be redeeming all of its outstanding 5.625 per cent senior unsecured notes due April 23, 2021, at a redemption price equal to 102.813 per cent of the principal amount of the Existing Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest.
On May 1, 2017, all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Halogen Software Inc. (“Halogen”) were acquired by Saba Software Inc. (“Saba”), Vector Capital and its affiliates (“Vector”), and Michael Slaunwhite, Halogen’s founder, executive chairman and largest shareholder.
On January 19, 2017, Perk Inc. (“Perk”), the mobile-first supply side rewards and engagement platform, closed the plan of arrangement under section 182 of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) with RhythmOne plc (“RhythmOne”), a technology-enabled digital media company
On October 21, 2015, Concordia Healthcare Corp. (“Concordia”), a diverse healthcare company focused on legacy pharmaceutical products and orphan drugs, acquired UK-based Amdipharm Mercury Limited (“AMCo”) from Cinven Ltd, a leading European private equity firm, for approximately US$3.3 billion (the “Acquisition”) paid through a combination of cash and the issuance of 8.49 million common shares of Concordia.
On July 2, 2015, Alamos Gold Inc. (Alamos) and AuRico Metals Inc. (AuRico Metals) completed a previously announced arrangement in which Alamos Gold Inc., a predecessor to Alamos (Former Alamos), and AuRico Gold Inc., a predecessor to Alamos (Former AuRico), amalgamated to form Alamos, a leading intermediate gold producer. As part of the arrangement certain assets of Former AuRico, including the Kemess project, certain royalties and cash, were transferred to AuRico Metals, AuRico Metals was listed on the TSX and the AuRico Metals shares were distributed to the shareholders of Alamos.
On April 1, 2015, Tahoe Resources Inc. (Tahoe) and Rio Alto Mining Limited (Rio Alto) announced that they completed the Plan of Arrangement initially announced on February 9, 2015. Rio Alto operates the La Arena mine in Peru and is developing the Shahuindo project, also in Peru. The transaction, valued at approximately $1.3 billion, combines the respective businesses of Tahoe and Rio Alto to create a new, leading intermediate precious metals producer.
Glencore plc acquired Calgary-based Caracal Energy Inc. through a wholly owned subsidiary by way of a plan of arrangement for an all cash consideration of approximately $1.48 billion.
