Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1544329
30 www.lexpert.ca Canadian Law Awards Canadian Law Awards Li-Cycle Holdings' CCAA proceedings McCarthy Tétrault LLP (for Li-Cycle) McMillan LLP (for MasTec) Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (for Alvarez & Marsal Canada) Stikeman Elliott LLP (for Li-Cycle) Torys LLP (for Glencore Canada) Nordstrom Canada's CCAA proceedings Blaney McMurtry LLP Camelino Galessiere LLP Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Chaitons LLP Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Goodmans LLP (for Alvarez & Marsal Canada) Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (for Nordstrom Canada) Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP Torys LLP (for The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited and First Capital REIT) Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP Flow Beverage Corp.'s receivership and cross-border RVO Miller Thomson LLP Canadian Tobacco's restructuring under the CCAA Bennett Jones LLP (for a consortium of six provincial and three territorial governments) Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (for Deloitte Restructuring) Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP (for Ernst & Young) Chaitons LLP Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP (for FTI Consulting) Gowling WLG (for Philip Morris International) Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP Klein Lawyers LLP McCarthy Tétrault LLP (for Rothmans, Benson & Hedges) McMillan LLP Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (for Imperial Tobacco) Roebothan McKay Marshall Strosberg Wingfield Sasso LLP Stikeman Elliott LLP Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP (for JTI-Macdonald) Torys LLP (for JT Canada LLC Inc. and for PricewaterhouseCoopers) Wagners Law Firm INSOLVENCY AND RESTRUCTURING DEAL OF THE YEAR CANADIAN LAW FIRM INVOLVEMENT (CLIENT) & Sullivan LLP for MasTec in asserting and proving its priority lien and cure cost claims, and in negotiating a settlement with Glencore as the successful bidder under the SISP. Nordstrom Canada's CCAA proceedings facilitated the orderly exit of the US fash- ion retailer from the Canadian market. e Nordstrom Canada entities operated 13 flag- ship stores in prominent malls across Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. e CCAA process oversaw the liquidation of merchan- dise, the closure of concessions operated by in- ternational luxury brands, and the resolution of landlord claims. e entities filed a plan of arrangement that creditors unanimously approved, delivering 80 percent recovery to unsecured creditors in just over one year from filing, a proceeding now widely regarded as a benchmark for retail liquidations in Cana- da. Osler, led by Tracy Sandler, served as lead counsel to Nordstrom Canada. Goodmans LLP, led by Brendan O'Neill and Bradley Wiffen, acted for monitor Alvarez & Marsal, and Torys, led by David Bish and Scott Bomhoff, represented major landlords includ- ing Cadillac Fairview and First Capital REIT. Another Excellence Awardee is Flow Beverage Corp's receivership and cross-border reverse vesting order, a precedent-setting re- structuring of a publicly listed Canadian bev- erage manufacturer, co-packer, and distributor with operations in Canada and the US. Follow- ing three unsuccessful sale processes and a se- cured lending position in the tens of millions of dollars, the court-appointed receiver, assisted by counsel, implemented a novel hybrid transac- tion that combined a Canadian reverse vesting order within a receivership with a partial strict foreclosure for the US subsidiary. is structure preserved critical regulatory licences, including provincial water extraction and federal excise permits, maintained supplier and customer re- lationships, and kept the business operating as a going concern. e court-approved outcome safeguarded more than 150 jobs, maximized recovery for secured creditors while leaving unsecured creditors no worse off than in a liquidation scenario, and expanded Canadian jurisprudence on the flexible use of RVOs in cross-border insolvency proceedings. Miller omson LLP acted as lead counsel. ese landmark restructurings demonstrate the depth of expertise in Canada's insolvency sector, showcasing how legal professionals collaborate to protect businesses, safeguard creditor interests, and drive resolutions in an ever-evolving landscape.