Lexpert puts the spotlight on Montréal’s leading mergers and acquisition (M&A) lawyers based on the results of our expansive annual peer survey. The list is revealed below. For the complete roster of the top M&A lawyers and law firms in the city and the province of Québec, check out our practice area rankings list.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is the branch of corporate law dealing with the purchase of one company by another or the blending of two companies into a new entity.
Carl Bélanger
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1998
Carl Bélanger is a partner and co-president of the corporate and commercial law group at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He devotes his practice to commercial transactions and corporate structures, including mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private sector-funding. Bélanger is also involved in helping clients set up funds and limited partnerships. He has assisted clients at every step of their development in Canada and abroad. Bélanger has been active in transactions involving private equity funds and business successions through management and other buyouts. He has also led a significant number of transactional files involving private or public corporations from diverse fields, including information technology, real estate development, health care and services, manufacturing and industrial production, and agriculture and food. His firm specializes in business law and litigation and has 10 offices worldwide.
Michel Boislard
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1989
Michel Boislard is an expert in commercial law, primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing, investment funds and securities. He advises clients from the high technology and biotechnology sectors. Boislard represents public and private corporations on complex domestic and international cross-border transactions. He also often acts on behalf of investment funds during acquisitions. Boislard is a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP.
Patrick Boucher
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1996
Patrick Boucher is a partner McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s business law group in Montréal and co-heads its national capital markets practice. He specializes in securities and corporate law, concentrating on mergers and acquisitions, takeover bids and public financings. Boucher has acted as counsel to issuers and underwriters in various public offerings, including initial public offerings and private placements of publicly listed issuers. He has also participated in numerous takeover bids and going-private transactions of publicly listed issuers and has acted as counsel to independent committees in connection with various transactions. His firm is one of Canada’s largest full-service law firms, with offices across the country, the US and the UK.
Robert Carelli
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2000
Robert Carelli is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP’s securities group. He also heads its Montréal office’s corporate group. Carelli devotes his practice to securities, capital markets, governance, and public and private mergers and acquisitions. He advises issuers and underwriters on public offerings and private placements, boards of directors and private equity funds. His firm specializes in business law and one of Canada’s largest.
Peter Castiel
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1993
Peter Castiel is a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP’s corporate group. He is also a member of the firm’s partnership board and executive committee. Castiel specializes in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. He boasts extensive experience in advising private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds and leading public and private companies in connection with acquisitions, divestitures and investments.
Shahir Guindi
Law firm: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1990
Shahir Guindi is the national co-chair at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, one of Canada’s largest business law firms. He is also a member of the firm’s partnership board and served as managing partner at its Montréal office for seven years prior to becoming national co-chair. Guindi has over 25 years of experience and is a recognized advisor in mergers and acquisition, private equity and corporate finance. His private equity and venture capital experience includes advising funds on their domestic and cross-border portfolio investments and divestitures and on their fund formations. Guindi acts for several of the country’s most successful technology and biotechnology companies.
Sidney M. Horn
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1978 (QC); 1982 (AB)
Sidney M. Horn is a senior counsel in the corporate group at Stikeman Elliott LLP. He specializes in commercial, corporate and securities law. Horn advises large domestic and international corporations on complex questions concerning finance, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. He boasts extensive experience in complex transactions requiring creative solutions. Horn represents private equity firms in their investments in private and public corporations, as well as corporations and independent directors in transactions such as going private transactions, related party transactions and insider bids.
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Warren M. Katz
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1996 (ON); 1996 (QC)
Warren M. Katz is a managing partner at Stikeman Elliott’s Montréal office. He is also a member of the firm's partnership board and executive committee. Katz is also the former head of its corporate group. He specializes in cross-border mergers and acquisitions involving both public and private companies and investment funds, public offerings, private placements and going-private transactions.
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Sophie Lamonde
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2002
Sophie Lamonde is a partner and head of the mergers and acquisitions group at Stikeman Elliott LLP. She devotes her practice to mergers and acquisitions and private equity, with a focus on cross-border transactions. Lamonde advises Canadian and foreign clients in acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations and general commercial negotiations. She also works with businesses in various industries, including retail, manufacturing, contract research, technology and media.
Pierre-Yves Leduc
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1999
Pierre-Yves Leduc is a partner and head of the securities group at Stikeman Elliott LLP. He specializes in public and private mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate finance. Leduc has acted as counsel to issuers and underwriters in public offerings and private placements. He has also acted for corporations in acquisitions and divestitures. Leduc advises both buyers and sellers on numerous takeover bids and going-private and restructuring transactions. He also advises clients on corporate governance matters.
John W. Leopold
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1980
John W. Leopold is a senior partner in the corporate group at Stikeman Elliott LLP. He devotes his practice to mergers and acquisitions, private equity and corporate finance. Leopold boasts extensive experience in cross-border transactions. He acts extensively for both corporate and financial sponsor clients in both public and private company transactions and all related matters with a client base that spans the globe.
Clemens Mayr
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1991
Clemens Mayr is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Montréal office. He specializes in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and corporate governance. Mayr regularly represents issuers and underwriters in Canadian and cross-border public financings in various industry segments. He also represents boards of directors and independent committees of public companies in various contexts. Mayr is fluent in English, French and German.
Robert Paré
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1977
Robert Paré specializes in the areas of governance, mergers and acquisitions and securities law. He has extensive experience in advising board of directors and special committees in challenging situations. Paré acts as counsel in Canada and overseas on large-scale acquisition projects and takeover bids. He has also worked for corporate issuers and underwriters in several public offerings domestically and internationally. Paré speaks regularly in the context of professional training programs and at seminars on specialized topics related to his area of practice. He currently serves as a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP.
Paul Raymond
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1986
Paul Raymond is a senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, an international full-service law firm. He boasts substantial experience in corporate and securities law, financings and business acquisitions and sales. Raymond also has extensive domestic and international experience, mainly in the US, Europe and emerging markets. He has been involved in debt and equity financing of private and public corporations, governments and Crown corporations by way of private or public offerings, acting on behalf of issuers and underwriters. Raymond has acted in various transactions for the purchase or sale of businesses, as well as in mergers and reorganizations. He has also been involved in various structured finance transactions.
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Franziska Ruf
Law firm: Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1987
Franziska Ruf is a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, a business law firm specializing in high-stakes and complex matters. Ruf focuses on capital markets, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions and private equity. She advises clients on Canadian and international public and private acquisitions, divestitures, securities issuances, investments and joint ventures. She frequently advises corporations, private equity firms and financial advisers on public and private cross-border M&A, as well as issuers and underwriters on public offerings and private placements.
Patrick M. Shea
Law firm: McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2007 (QC); 2000 (New York)
Patrick M. Shea is a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, where he also heads its private equity group. He specializes in corporate law. Shea advises corporate, private equity and pension fund clients in Canadian, US and international mergers and acquisitions across a wide range of industries. He also represents sponsors and investors in connection with the formation of an investment in private equity funds in Canada and abroad. Shea is the relationship partner for many domestic and international clients that operate in Canada, including large public companies, small and mid-sized businesses, private equity firms, hedge funds, investment banks and entrepreneurs. He routinely advises these and other clients on a wide variety of corporate and commercial law matters, including complex commercial agreements and arrangements. Shea is fluent in English and in French.
Éric Stevens
Law firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1996
Éric Stevens is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. He devotes his practice to mergers and acquisitions, including cross-border transactions, corporate law and private financings. Stevens regularly acts in major acquisitions, including strategic acquisitions for public and private companies. He has been involved for many years in various charitable causes close to his heart as a member of various corporate boards.
Maxime Turcotte
Law firm: Stikeman Elliott LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2001
Maxime Turcotte is a partner in the corporate group at Stikeman Elliott LLP. His practice is focused on providing corporate advice in the context of mergers and acquisitions both private and public, and corporate finance and projects. He boasts extensive experience in the sectors of renewable energy, infrastructure and utilities.