42 | Big Deals
Lexpert®Ranked Lawyers
Read, Jeffrey A.
Borden Ladner
Gervais LLP
(604) 640-4097
jread@blg.com
Mr. Read's corporate
and securities law
practice includes a
focus on electricity
markets, including
wood waste, run-of-
river, wind and gas-
fi red power projects.
His clients include
power producers,
securities dealers
and equity groups.
Proudfoot,
Clifford G.
Lawson Lundell LLP
(604) 631-9217
cproudfoot@
lawsonlundell.com
Mr. Proudfoot's
practice is focused
on environmental and
Aboriginal litigation. He
has represented his
clients in environmental
prosecutions,
administrative actions,
permit appeals
and environmental
assessments.
Reid, David A.
Cox & Palmer
(902) 491-4131
dreid@coxandpalmer.
com
Mr. Reid's experience
in the energy sector
includes providing
corporate commercial
and regulatory
advice to major oil
and gas projects,
exploration and
production companies,
service companies,
regulatory agents and
governments.
Riley, Y. Beth
Bennett Jones LLP
(403) 298-3096
rileyb@bennettjones.
com
Ms. Riley focuses
on corporate and
securities law, and
competition and foreign
investment matters.
Advises on M&A,
corporate fi nance,
corporate governance
and continuous
disclosure compliance.
Richer
La Flèche, Erik
Stikeman Elliott LLP
(514) 397-3109
ericherlafl eche@
stikeman.com
Mr. Richer La Flèche's
practice extends to
electricity, oil and gas,
including pipelines,
ports and transmission
lines. He has acted in
more than 35 countries.
He is a member of the
Ontario and Quebec
Bars.
Roberts, Griffith D.
Cox & Palmer
(709) 570-5336
groberts@
coxandpalmer.com
Mr. Roberts's practice
focuses on the
commercial and
regulatory aspects of
energy projects, with
particular emphasis
on electric power
generation and
transmission and
energy markets.
(financial services); and Jonathan Freeman (real estate)
and Brian Dominique (regulatory).
McCarthy Tétrault LLP represented Scotiabank with a
team that included Linda Brown and Matthew Appleby.
CNRL ACQUIRES DEVON
CANADA CONVENTIONAL ASSETS
Closing date: April 1, 2014
Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) acquired
Devon Canada Corporation's conventional assets, exclud-
ing heavy oil properties and Horn River, for $3.125 billion.
CNRL is a Canadian senior oil and natural gas produc-
tion company with operations in areas located in western
Canada, the UK portion of the North Sea and offshore Af-
rica. Devon Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Okla-
homa City-based Devon Energy Corporation, an indepen-
dent energy company engaged in North American oil and
gas exploration and production.
CNRL was represented by CNRL's Vice President, Legal
and General Counsel, Paul Mendes; Betty Yee, Vice Presi-
dent, Land; and Katherine Linder, Manager, Legal Counsel,
Acquisitions and Divestments; and by Burnet, Duckworth &
Palmer LLP by a team including John Cuthbertson, Stuart
Money, Alison Koper and Cassandra Calder (energy); Evan
Dixon (regulatory), Jody Wivcharuk (competition), Gina
Ross (employment), and Kirk Lamb and Liz McCarthy (tax).
Devon Canada was represented by its Vice President,
Land, and General Counsel, Murray Brown; Morey Sair,
Associate General Counsel; and senior counsel Peter Straka;
and by Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP by a team includ-
ing Rob Desbarats and Janice Buckingham (energy); Da-
mian Rigolo (employment) and Peter Glossop and Kaeleigh
Kuzma (regulatory).
WSP GLOBAL ACQUIRES
FOCUS GROUP HOLDING
Closing date: April 10, 2014
WSP Global Inc. acquired Focus Group Holding Inc., a
portfolio company of KRG Capital Partners, through a
plan of arrangement pursuant to Section 288 of the Business
Corporations Act (British Columbia) for an all-cash deal of
approximately $366 million.
Focus is an engineering and geomatics firm based in Al-
berta serving the oil and gas industry in Western Canada.
WSP Global Inc. is a professional services firm that works
with governments, businesses, architects and planners.
Harris Williams & Co. acted as the exclusive advisor
to Focus. KRG is a Denver, Colorado-based private-eq-
uity firm.
WSP Global Inc. was represented in-house by Valéry Za-
muner, Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secre-
tary; and Marcy Ben-Ami, legal counsel. WSP was also ad-
vised by a team from Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
including Franziska Ruf, Sébastien Savage, Christine Lenis
and Fotini Gagaoudakis (M&A/corporate) and Mark Katz
(competition). The Davies team was assisted with British
Columbia matters by Lawson Lundell LLP with a team in-
cluding Valerie Mann (M&A/corporate), Mandeep Dhali-
wal and Elena Do (banking).
Stikeman Elliott LLP acted for Focus with a team in-
cluding Peter Castiel, Sophie Lamonde, John Anderson,
Sarah Kingsley, Alexandra Tremblay, Timour Breslavski
